POWER RANKINGS — Huskies still riding high, but plenty of movement elsewhere

By barstoolfanatics on September 4, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

By Ray Hamill — Week one never defines a season, but how a team reacts in week two often does.

And that will be key for many of the H-DNL teams as we get set for the second weekend of action.

Eight of the nine local varsity teams opened here on the North Coast this past weekend, giving local fans plenty of options to take in games.

And it was a good weekend for several of them, most notably the Fortuna Huskies, who lived up to their billing as the top-ranked local team with an impressive shutout victory over Big 4 rivals Del Norte.

St. Bernard’s, Arcata and Ferndale each also had impressive opening-weekend wins to get their respective seasons off to a good start.

As expected, penalties and early-season miscues played a part for many teams, as is often the case on opening weekend.

The question now is how those teams — most notably Hoopa, Del Norte and Eureka — respond to those early-season mistakes in week two.

The good news for all of them is that their mistakes are fixable.

There is no change at the top of this week’s Power Rankings with the Huskies comfortably taking care of business against a Del Norte team that was ranked No. 2 in the preseason.

St. Bernard’s and Arcata, meanwhile, both move up a spot to Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, after strong showings against Hoopa and Eureka, respectively.

A lot of people are expecting big things out of the Tigers this fall and they didn’t disappoint with a second straight opening-night win over the Loggers.

The Tigers will be tested this week when they host Fortuna in their home opener (at McKinleyville High School) in what will be the game of the week here on the North Coast.

A win for the Tigers would likely catapult them to the top of the rankings next week.

The Crusaders, meanwhile, will host Willits this week in their home opener as they look to make it two-for-two.

The Del Norte Warriors will also play their home opener when they welcome Ashland to Crescent City for a Friday night showdown.

The good news for the Warriors is that they competed well at Husky Field, but unnecessary personal fouls and missed assignments ended up costing them.

If they can clean up those mistakes, which we expect, they look physical enough to challenge anybody here on the North Coast this fall and should contend for another Big 4 title.

(Remember, their Big 4 game against the Huskies will take place in Crescent City later in the campaign.)

The Eureka Loggers and Ferndale Wildcats round out our top-five.

The Cats played their trademark physical brand of small-school football in their opener at Fort Bragg and look well positioned to enjoy another big season.

The Loggers are still looking for their first win since 2022, but they were clearly up for the occasion and could easily have been leading by two TDs early against Arcata had they taken advantage of their opportunities deep in Tigers territory.