POWER RANKINGS — Movement at the top in final 2024 rankings

By barstoolfanatics on November 13, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The Ferndale Wildcats saved their best for last.

For the final Power Rankings of the season, we finally see a shift at the top for the first time in 10 weeks, with the impressive Wildcats making their case with a statement win on Saturday.

The Cats closed out the season with a huge 27-21 win over Arcata, splitting the season series and the Little 4 championship with the Tigers.

And because of that, the two conference rivals end the season tied atop the Humboldt Sports Power Rankings.

This is the first time all season that the Wildcats have climbed to No. 1, while it marks the 10th straight week Arcata has held the top spot.

It also marks the last time the two schools will play each other this year after both were placed in different divisions for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.

That, however, leaves open the possibility that each could win a section championship or more after both teams received a high seed in their brackets.

The Tigers are seeded No. 1 in the Division-6 field and open against No. 8 Bethel at McKinleyville High School on Friday night.

(And last week’s loss for Arcata could be bad news for Bethel, as the Tigers will be eager to get back to winning ways quickly and extra fired up for the game.)

The Wildcats, meanwhile, are seeded No. 2 in Division 7 and open at home against No. 7 Vallejo on Saturday afternoon.

The defending 7-AA state champs appear well positioned to repeat as Section champions and keep their rich tradition in the NCS going.

Interesting, only nationally-recognized De La Salle has won more NCS titles in the sport than the Wildcats.

It was also a good week for the Del Norte Warriors, who won a thriller at St. Bernard’s to claim the Big 4 championship outright.

The win was the seventh straight for Del Norte, which closes out the regular season 8-2 and at No. 3 in our Power Rankings.

Should the Warriors be tied atop the rankings with Arcata and Ferndale?

Del Norte fans probably believe so, but they did get blown out by Arcata earlier in the season, even if they are clearly playing better at the business end of the campaign.

Some fans, including myself, would love to have seen the Warriors and Wildcats, two of the most physically imposing teams in the H-DNL, go head-to-head this fall.

And guess what, we may yet get our wish.

The Warriors are seeded No. 4 for the NCS Division-7 playoffs and could play Ferndale in the final in two weeks time if both schools can successfully navigate their opening two playoff games.

Rounding out this week’s Power Rankings, the Fortuna Huskies are at No. 4 after winning their regular season finale against the Eureka Loggers and securing second place in the Big 4.