Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Friday’s game at McKinleyville High School.

By Ray Hamill — Friday night was a busy one for the H-DNL teams, but it was also a very good one for some of them.

St. Bernard’s, Del Norte and Hoopa all won their matchups, with the Crusaders improving to 4-0.

St. Bernard’s traveled to Lake County to play Clear Lake and won comfortably 45-13.

The Crusaders led 15-0 after the opening quarter but the Cardinals would claw their way back into the game and cut the deficit to just two points early in the third quarter.

After that, however it was all St. Bernard’s and the visitors racked up 30 unanswered points to close out the game.

The St. Bernard’s JVs also won their game, improving to 4-0 with a 28-6 victory.

The Del Norte Warriors also won big on Friday, shutting out Skyline 48-0 in Crescent City.

Senior quarterback Aidan Rice threw two TD passes in the win and also returned an interception for a 60-yard TD.

Ben Borges added three TDs, including on runs of five and 54 yards, as well as a 12-yard reception from Rice.

With the win, the Warriors improved to 2-2.

The Del Norte JVs also won their game 32-0 to go to 3-1.

The Hoopa Warriors, meanwhile, traveled to Trinity and came away with their second straight victory to go to 2-2.

The Warriors won the game 50-20 and have responded well since suffering a heartbreaking loss to Etna two weeks ago.

The Hoopa JVs also won their game 43-0, getting their first win of the season and improving to 1-2. 

The Arcata Tigers were also in action at Oakland in a battle of two 3-0 varsity teams.

No score from that game was immediately available.

Elsewhere, it was a disappointing night for Eureka, McKinleyville and South Fork.

The Loggers traveled to Willow Glen and fell 29-16, dropping to 1-3.

“We started off slowly,” Eureka head coach Sam Edmonds said. “I definitely think a seven-and-a-half hour drive had a lot to do with starting slowly. But we battled.”

Michael Jewell, who is enjoying a big season with the team, scored both of the Eureka touchdowns.

The first came on a 27-yard reception from quarterback Kyle Johnston, and the second on a 45-yard run.

The Loggers also scored a pair of two-point conversions, one by Gavyn Haberman and the other by Johnston.

The Loggers were without two key starters through injury — tight end and defensive tackle Cole Harbin and middle linebacker Tyler Broderick — and they were missed.

“We had a couple of kids out with injuries this week, but we had guys step up,” Edmonds said.

No one more so than Paco Davila, who had a big night on the defensive side of the ball at middle linebacker.

“He did a great job battling all game,” the head coach said of the senior standout. “He left it all on the field tonight.”

When they had possession, the Loggers did a good job moving the ball at times but a couple of drives deep into Willow Glen territory stalled.

The Loggers have a bye next week before playing at Windsor in two weeks.

It was a good night for the Eureka JVs, who won their game 14-0 and improved to 3-0-1.

The Panthers, meanwhile, lost to University Prep at McKinleyville High School.

The visitors opened up a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter and cruised to a 49-6 victory.

The Panthers’ lone score came on a Ruger Baxter TD pass to Walter Morton.

McKinleyville is now 0-3.

The Panthers JVs fared better, tying University Prep 14-14 and improving to 0-2-1.

The South Fork Cubs also dropped to 0-3, falling 50-16 at Hayfork.

There is one local game scheduled for Saturday, with the Fortuna Huskies traveling to Ferndale to play the Wildcats in the annual Milk Can game.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., with the schools’ JV teams also playing at 11:30 a.m.