Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — Last week we suspected the top two teams in the H-DNL might be Little 4 teams.
This week we know it’s true.
After their big come-from-behind win at St. Bernard’s on Saturday — which was their second straight win over a Big 4 team — the Ferndale Wildcats have solidified their position as a legitimate H-DNL frontrunner.
The question is did they do enough to beat out Arcata at the top of the Power Rankings while the Tigers enjoyed a bye?
Popular high school sports website MaxPreps appears to believe so and has the Cats as the top-ranked team in the H-DNL right now and 26th overall in the North Coast Section, three spots ahead of the Tigers.
But for now, we’re sticking with Arcata as No. 1 in the Humboldt Sports Power Rankings.
The Tigers have been electrifying so far this season and have three wins over Big 4 teams, which combined with Ferndale’s two gives the top two Little 4 schools a 5-0 record against the Big 4.
The two Little 4 frontrunners will face off against each other twice in the final four weekends of the regular season.
Despite their loss last weekend, which was their first of the season, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders remain at No. 3 in this week’s Power Rankings.
The Crusaders have done little wrong this season, and in fact they have won games they didn’t play their best football in.
Under the guidance of head coach Matt Tomlin they will only continue to get better and right now look like they could be the top contender for this year’s Big 4 championship.
The Huskies also remain steady at No. 4 despite their lopsided road loss against a very good University Prep team last weekend, which was their second straight loss.
Rounding out the top five are the Del Norte Warriors, who are coming off back-to-back big wins, during which they outscored their two opponents by a combined 103-0.
The Warriors are coming together at an opportune time, but remain behind the Huskies for two reasons right now.
The Huskies shut them out in week one and also matched up far more competitively against the No. 1 Tigers.
This is the first week we see no changes in the top five.
POWER RANKINGS
1 — Arcata (4-0)
The Tigers are No, 1 for the fourth straight week
2 — Ferndale (4-0)
The Cats have two straight comeback wins over Big 4 teams
3 — St. Bernard’s (4-1)
The Crusaders suffered their first loss last weekend but remain a strong contender for the Big 4
4 — Fortuna (2-3)
Things won’t get any easier for the Huskies at St. Vincent de Paul this weekend
5 — Del Norte (3-2)
The Warriors have outscored their last two opponents 103-0
