Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Del Norte Warriors are now 4-0 in the Big 5.

By Ray Hamill — For the second straight week, a Ferndale Wildcat features among our athletes of the week.

Junior Prescott Langer, who was also the Humboldt Sports Little 4 Boys Athlete of the Year in 2023/24, turned in an inspirational performance to lead the Ferndale football team to a thrilling come-from-behind win at St. Bernard’s on Saturday.

The outstanding Langer scored four touchdowns in the 39-27 victory, including three in the fourth quarter alone.

He also had a fourth-quarter interception to set up one of his TDs and rushed for a total of 227 yards for the afternoon.

And that earns him the nod as one of our athletes of the week, along with a McKinleyville senior who has been one of the top boys soccer players in the H-DNL for the past few years and is showing no signs of slowing down in his final year of high school.

Rylee Collart netted 12 goals in two games this past week, leading the way for the Panthers in wins over St. Bernard’s ad South Fork.

And that gets him the nod for our second athlete of the week this week.

But the two big individual performances weren’t the only standouts of the week.

Not to be out-done, it was also a big week for the Del Norte volleyball team.

On Thursday night, the Warriors secured their 20th consecutive Big 5 victory and closed out the first half of their conference schedule with a record of 4-0 as they took another step towards a third straight conference championship.

And that makes them our team of the week.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Prescott Langer

Ferndale Football, Junior

Langer was outstanding at St. Bernard’s, as the Wildcats’ ground attack wore down the home defense in another thrilling game for the visitors.

It wasn’t just his 227 yards and the four touchdowns that stood out, but he continually punished the SB tacklers with a physical running style and that was ultimately what opened up some big holes late in the game for him to take advantage of.

With the win, Langer and the Wildcats improved to 4-0 on the season as they get set to challenge the Arcata Tigers for this year’s Little 4 championship.

For more on his big week, see Big fourth quarter lifts Langer and the Cats past the Crusaders …

Rylee Collart

McKinleyville Soccer, Senior

Collart continues to play an influential role for the Panthers, who posted two big wins in league play over the past week.

He netted seven times in an 11-0 win over St. Bernard’s on Saturday and followed that with five more goals and a pair of assists in a 10-0 win over South Fork on Tuesday, as neither opposing defense could contain him.

The two wins were crucial to his team’s championship ambitions and lifted the Panthers to 2-3-1 in league play.

For more on his big week, see Huskies keep pressure on league leaders; Panthers, Warriors win …

TEAM OF THE WEEK 

Del Norte Volleyball

Under the guidance of coaches Debbie Lorenzi and Petra Lorenzi the Del Norte girls remain well on course for a third straight Big 5 championship.

They will play a huge game at Arcata on Thursday, but this week they closed out the first half of league play with a straight-sets win at home against Eureka.

Even more impressive, the Warriors have dropped just one set in their first four conference games, and this is a team that has incredible depth and tremendous energy on the court.

For more on their big week, see Warriors in control midway through their Big 5 schedule …