Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Eight of the nine H-DNL varsity football teams will be in action this weekend, including three games here in Humboldt County.

Little 4 co-leaders Arcata and Ferndale will both try to keep their fast start to conference play going with a pair of games they both will be expected to win, before the two schools face off against each other twice over the final four weeks of the season.

One week after shutting out Hoopa 32-0, the Wildcats will head to McKinleyville to play the Panthers in their homecoming game on Friday night.

Ferndale is the hottest team in the H-DNL right now and has won 11 straight games dating back to last year.

The Cats are 5-0 on the season (1-0 in the Little 4), while the Panthers are still searching for their first win and come into the game with a record of 0-5 and 0-1.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Tigers, meanwhile, comfortably got the better of McKinleyville last week by a score of 51-0 and also are 5-0 halfway through their schedule and also 1-0 in the Little 4.

They will try to keep rolling at Hoopa on Saturday night, while the Warriors (2-3, 0-1) will try to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Big 4 teams, on the other hand, won’t begin conference play for another two weeks, but three of the four teams will be in action this weekend as they continue their preparation for what is expected to be a tight race for this year’s championship.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders, who had a bye last week, will play the first of back-to-back games in Tennessee on Friday when they play at Grace Baptist (5-1).

The Crusaders are 4-1 on the season.

The Fortuna Huskies also will be in action on Friday night when they travel to play the Silverado Hawks in Victorville.

The Huskies are 2-4 and will be eager to get back to winning ways after dropping three straight games, all of them against quality opponents.

The Hawks come into the game with a record of 3-3 and kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Eureka Loggers, meanwhile, will hit the road for a fifth straight game when they travel to play Biggs, also on Friday night.

The Loggers are 1-4 but have played a difficult schedule, while Biggs is 4-1.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Rounding out a busy weekend for the local schools, the South Fork Cubs are coming off back-to-back byes and will be looking for their first win of the season when they host Roseland University Prep in Miranda on Friday night.

The Cubs are 0-3, while the Knights are unbeaten with a record of 5-0.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

The Del Norte Warriors (4-2) have a bye this weekend after three straight wins.