Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday afternoon’s game at Ferndale.
By Ray Hamill — A relentless Ferndale ground attack wore down the visiting Timberwolves in both teams’ season opener in football at Ferndale on Saturday afternoon.
With several players back from last year’s state 7-AA championship winning team, the Wildcats hit the ground running in more ways than one on their way to a comfortable 39-12 victory.
No one more so than junior quarterback Tanner Pidgeon, who accounted for five of his team’s touchdowns, including rushing for four of them.
The electrifying Pidgeon provided the highlight of the weekend in H-DNL football after breaking free for a 95-yard TD late in the first quarter to give his team an early 14-0 lead.
Luke Dixon provided a key lead block on the play and Pidgeon broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage before out-running the Fort Bragg defense all the way to the end zone.
“If you give him space he’s going to do that,” Ferndale head coach Clint McClurg said. “He is an outstanding student-athlete. You can say all positive things about that young man.”
Overall, it was a very good team performance and one that will give the Wildcats some early-season momentum.
“It was an outstanding start to our season,”McClurg added. “From a team perspective, I would say the physicality was what impressed me (the most).”
For a first game, the Cats were clearly ready to go, both physically and mentally.
“I thought our mental mistakes were at a minimum,” McClurg added. “But there’s some things we still need to work on.”
Pidgeon and his Wildcat teammates set the early tone with a dominating opening possession, marching 62 yards on 10 plays and scoring on a Pidgeon QB sneak.
Fellow junior Prescott Langer, who was named the 2024 Humboldt Sports Little 4 Boys Athlete of the year as a sophomore, also dominated on the ground behind an impressive Ferndale line.
Check out Tanner Pidgeon’s 95-yard TD run below …
Langer got four straight carries to open the game and ran for 28 yards on the opening drive, while punishing Fort Bragg tacklers at the point of contact.
“He’s our physical tone setter,” McClurg said of Prescott. “He’s a great leader and he keeps (his teammates) up when they need it.”
The visitors, however, grew into the game and began to find a groove with impressive senior running back Alex Nicholson leading the way.
Fort Bragg got on the scoreboard with an 18-yard passing TD from quarterback Dane Salo to receiver Jacob Hendricks with just 14 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
But the Wildcats would cement their lead on their following possession, marching 65 yards on nine plays and scoring a third TD on a 14-yard pass from Pidgeon to senior Jonah Anderson.
Anderson, one of four team captains along with Pidgeon, Langer and lineman Ethan Weitzel, also had a big day at linebacker and helped set the tone in what was a good defensive team performance as well.
“I thought that our captains really did lead us and I thought it was an outstanding performance from a team perspective,” the head coach added.
Pidgeon’s impact also was felt on both sides of the ball and he pulled in the first of two interceptions for the day on Fort Bragg’s next possession.
Unfortunately for the Cats they were unable to add to their tally before halftime after fumbling the ball near midfield.
The home team led 21-6 at the break, but a second lost fumble on the Cats’ first possession of the second half left the game still in the balance.
The Timberwolves took full advantage of the miscue and would add to their tally with their second TD late in the third.
However, a second missed two-point conversion left them trailing by two scores (21-12) heading into the fourth.
Pidgeon would add to the home team’s tally on the first play of the final quarter, breaking free for a 52-yard touchdown run that would put the Cats up 27-12.
A second Pidgeon interception on Fort Bragg’s ensuing possession would set up his fourth running TD of the game four minutes into the fourth, and after that there was no way back for the Timberwolves.
Tristen Titus added a long TD run late in the game to close out the scoring and cap a good afternoon for the home team.
Several other players also impressed in the win, including Weitzel, Jake Kurwitz and Henry Westfall, each of whom helped set a physical tone in the trenches, along with sophomores Ruben Peredia and Angel Zaragoza, who had impressive varsity debuts and look set to be solid contributors for the next few years.
“I absolutely loved our offensive and defensive lines up front,” McClurg said.
The victory also capped a good afternoon for the home fans, with the Wildcat JVs also getting off to a winning start and defeating Fort Bragg 29-8.
