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The Ferndale Wildcats saw a memorable season come to an end on Saturday night, as a big-play Moreau Catholic team beat them 21-19 in the Division-7 North Coast Section championship game at Hayward High School.

The Cats possessed the ball for much of the night and took a 19-14 lead with 8:24 remaining in the fourth quarter.

However, the top-seeded Mariners would return the ensuing kickoff 90-yards to quickly re-take the lead and held on down the stretch.

Ferndale did threaten again and drove deep into Moreau Catholic territory late in the quarter, but a fumble at the 16-yard line ended the scoring opportunity with three minutes on the clock.

The loss ended a run of seven straight playoff wins for the defending 7-AA state champs and it was just the second in their last 19 games.

The Wildcats closed out the year 11-2 and shared the Little 4 championship with the Arcata Tigers.

In a matchup of 1 and 2 seeds in the Division-7 bracket, the Mariners enjoyed a dream start when they scored on a 77-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.

A physical Ferndale offensive line, however, would quickly establish its superiority and the Wildcats drove up and down the field with ease for much of the night.

Quarterback Tanner Pidgeon capped an impressive and methodical opening drive for the No. 2 seeds with a seven-yard TD run late in the first quarter.

But the Ferndale defense had problems containing the Moreau Catholic offense early on and the Mariners would add to their tally on their next drive to lead 14-7 at the end of the opening quarter.

It remained 14-7 at the half, even though the Wildcats possessed the ball for twice as long as the Mariners in the opening half (roughly 16 and a half minutes to their opponents’ seven and a half minutes).

They were unable to convert that possession into scores, however, as their second drive ended on downs deep in Mariners territory and their third drive ended on a punt.

It was more of the same after the break, and the Wildcats took the opening possession the length of the field, scoring on five-yard Luke Dixon TD run.

A missed PAT, however, left them trailing 14-13.

But the Ferndale defense would grow into the game and did not give up a touchdown over the final three quarters despite giving up some chunk plays.

The Cats got the ball again late in the third quarter and once again they pieced together a long, time-consuming drive thanks to their offensive line dominating at the point os attack.

They took their first lead of the game a little over three minutes into the fourth quarter, but it lasted just seconds when the Mariners scored on the ensuing kickoff.

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