Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Not surprisingly, the two teams that most people considered to be the best two teams in H-DNL football this year are the last two still playing.

On Saturday, both Arcata and Ferndale will play for a North Coast Section championship as the local league looks to continue a proud tradition in one of most competitive sections in the state.

In the last 13 postseasons, dating back to 2010, the H-DNL has won 10 section championships, including two each for Ferndale (2012, 2023), Fortuna (2017, 2018), St. Bernard’s (2015, 2019) and Hoopa (2010, 2011) and one each for Del Norte (2019) and South Fork (2023).

The Tigers will play for a Division-6 championship when they take on Miramonte at McKinleyville in the afternoon (1 p.m.), while the Wildcats will compete for a second straight Division-7 championship when they play Moreau Catholic at Hayward High School later in the day (7 p.m.).

Interestingly, the Tigers will also be playing for some school history as they look for a first-ever section championship in the sport, while the Cats will be looking for a 15th championship to further establish themselves as the greatest program in league history.

De La Salle is the only school in the entire NCS that has won more section championships.

If either or both win, they would advance to the state playoffs, which the league also has a very good recent tradition in.

In fact, the H-DNL has averaged a state championship every two years over the past eight postseasons, with St. Bernard’s winning two California titles in that time (2015 and 2019) and Fortuna (2017) and Ferndale (2023) once each.

(There were no NCS or state playoffs in 2020 because of the pandemic.)

Whether the Tigers and Wildcats can continue that excellent recent tradition in both the section and state playoffs remains to be seen — the NCS winners all advance to next week’s state playoffs — but there’s every reason to believe they can.

Both schools have hit the ground running in this year’s playoffs and have dominated their first two opponents.

The Tigers, who are seeded No. 1 in the D-6 bracket, rolled over Bethel (52-12) and Petaluma (69-34), scoring an impressive 121 points in the process, while the Wildcats, who are seeded No. 2, have comfortably beaten both Vallejo (35-20) and Piedmont (43-7).

Both schools, like many within the H-DNL, have also utilized a physical brand of football on the path to success.

Few small schools anywhere are as physical as the Cats, who wear down opponents with their relentless running game and catch them off guard with some opportunistic play action passes.

The Tigers utilize a more potent aerial attack, but it too is founded on a physical branch of football with their trench players winning their battle more often than not and giving the talented and electrifying playmakers the opportunities to put up a lot of points.

Interestingly, both schools shared the Little 4 championship this season and both might want to thank the other for helping to prepare them for the playoffs.

The Tigers won the first matchup between the two schools in mid October in dominating fashion by a score of 35-7.

The word on the street is that loss motivated the Ferndale players for the second matchup between the two schools on the final day of the regular season three weeks ago, which they won 27-21.

In both games, the winning team had a point to prove and they succeeded.

They were the only losses of the season for either team and you could argue both defeats served as wake-up calls and a guard against further complacency.

As they say, a person’s true character is revealed during times of adversity and both sets of players answered the call after those respective losses, refocusing themselves and lifting the level of their game afterwards.

And neither team has looked back since then.

Both sets of coaches also deserve a ton of credit for guiding their players on the path to success.

Ferndale’s head coach Clint McClurg and his staff have reestablished the Cats as the dominating force they once were and they are once again playing an old-school style of football we have long associated with the Cream City.

Arcata head coach Matt Mager and his staff have been equally impressive, getting the best out of the most talented roster in the H-DNL and making sure their players are ready to go (at least since that loss at Ferndale).

On Saturday both teams will take the field representing their schools, the H-DNL and the entire North Coast, and local fans of all of the league’s schools will be rooting for them to continue their success and the excellent tradition of football here.

Time will tell if they can succeed, but few people who have followed H-DNL football closely over the past couple of decades would bet against it.