Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Heading into the final weekend of the regular season in football, six of the nine local varsity teams are ranked in the top five in their respective divisions, according to MaxPreps.

The high-flying Arcata Tigers, who are the only undefeated team in the league, are the highest ranked of the nine teams and are No. 22 overall in the North Coast Section out of 103 11-person programs.

The Tigers are also the highest ranked local team within their division, coming in at No. 2 in Division 5, trailing only No. 1 Acalanes.

Ferndale is the next highest ranked H-DNL team at No. 39 overall, just one spot ahead of a surging Del Norte.

The Wildcats are also the next best ranked local team within their division and are No. 3 in Division 7, behind No. 1 Salesian and No. 2 St. Vincent de Paul.

The Del Norte Warriors, meanwhile, are No. 5 in Division 6.

A fast-improving Eureka Loggers team also features high in the Division-5 rankings and are No. 5, just three spots behind Arcata.

The Loggers are also No. 44 overall.

Despite dropping back-to-back games against Eureka and Fortuna, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders are still considered one of the top teams in Division 7, coming in at No. 4, and they are also No. 58 overall.

The Fortuna Huskies, who ended a five-game losing streak with a victory over St. Bernard’s last week, are eight spots ahead of the Crusaders at No. 50 overall in the NCS and are also No. 7 in Division 6.

Hoopa (No. 85 overall and No. 9 in Division 7) and McKinleyville (No. 88 overall and No. 13 in Division 6) round out the local 11-player H-DNL teams.

The South Fork Cubs, meanwhile, are also ranked high in eight-person Division-1.

The defending NCS champions are No. 4 and in line for a playoff spot.