Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Fresh off a pair of impressive victories over two Big 4 schools, the Ferndale Wildcats are now the highest ranked H-DNL team in the North Coast Section, according to MaxPreps.

The surging Cats rallied for a 39-27 win at St. Bernard’s on Saturday with four fourth-quarter touchdowns to remain unbeaten on the season and stretch their winning streak to 10 straight games dating back to last season.

And according to the popular high school sports website, they are now No. 26 in the entire NCS out of 103 11-player teams.

A second unbeaten H-DNL team also features high in the rankings this week.

The Arcata Tigers, who also are 4-0 and remain many people’s favorites to win a second straight Little 4 conference championship this year, are just three spots further back at No. 29.

Rounding out the top-five local teams in the MaxPreps rankings, St. Bernard’s is No. 38, Fortuna is No. 49 and Eureka is just outside the top 50 at No. 53.

Del Norte, meanwhile, is nine spots further back at No. 62.

The Wildcats are also the top-ranked local team within their division.

The defending 7-AA NorCal and state champs are ranked No. 3 in Division 7, trailing No. 1 Salesian and No. 2 St. Vincent de Paul.

Both Arcata (D-5) and St. Bernard’s (D-7), meanwhile, are each ranked No. 4 in their divisions, giving the H-DNL a pair of top-four teams in Division 7.

The Eureka Loggers are the next highest ranked H-DNL team in their division, coming in this week at No. 5 in Division 5.

The Fortuna Huskies, who have a tough weekend game at St. Vincent de Paul, are No. 6 in Division 6.

Del Norte also features in Division 6 and is ranked No. 9 after back-to-back wins over Skyline and McKinleyville, the latter of which is now No. 14 in Division 6.

And rounding out the local team rankings, Hoopa is No. 12 in Division 7 after also winning back-to-back games.

The NCS playoffs kick off on Nov. 15.