Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Prescott Langer (13) and the Ferndale Wildcats will try to make two straight Milk Can wins when they travel to Fortuna on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — It’s been a fun start to the new football season here on the North Coast and it’s about to get even better. 

This weekend sees all nine varsity teams in action for the first time this season, including the always fun Milk Can game under the Friday night lights.

After winning the annual rivalry showdown 29-26 last year, the Ferndale Wildcats head to Fortuna to try and retain bragging rights for another year.

And judging by their impressive start to the season, they will be tough to stop.

The Cats are 2-0 and have yet to be scored on this season, having outscored Fort Bragg and Fall River by a combined 119-0.

The Huskies, meanwhile, are 0-2 and were shut out in the second half at Ukiah a week ago after leading 12-6 at halftime.

But when it comes to rivalry games, you never know what can happen, and this is arguably the best annual rivalry football game in the area.

Kickoff is set for 7:30, with the schools’ JV teams taking the field at 5.

Four other local schools will be in action on Friday night, including St. Bernard’s, which travels out of the area for the only time in the regular season.

The Crusaders, who are off to an impressive 3-0 start, will head south to Santa Rosa to play Montgomery (0-3) at 7 p.m.

The SB and Montgomery JVs will also play at 4:30 p.m

One week after losing to Arcata, the Del Norte Warriors (2-1) will try to get back to winning ways when they travel to Oakland to play Skyline (0-2) on Friday night, with kickoff at 5:30 p.m. because there will be no JV game.

The South Fork Cubs will also play on Friday night, as they look to continue their impressive start to the season.

Last week, the Cubs dominated Happy Camp in their season opener in eight-player football, winning 62-8 in Miranda.

They will play at home for the second straight week but will face a much tougher challenge against a Hayfork team that has won a remarkable 28 straight games, including perfect seasons in each of the past two years.

The Timberwolves are 3-0 this season, including a 26-29 win over Rogue River last week.

Friday’s game is set for 6 p.m.

Rounding out a busy Friday night for the local teams, the McKinleyville Panthers will return to action after a bye last week when they travel to play University Prep in Redding.

The U Prep Panthers are 0-3, including a 42-13 loss to Red Bluff last week, while the McKinleyville Panthers are 1-1.

The action for the local teams continues on Saturday, including an early kickoff.

College of the Redwoods (0-3) is making the long trip to Visalia to play College of the Sequoias (2-1) at 11 a.m.

In high school football on Saturday, Eureka, Arcata and Hoopa will all be in action.

Eureka, which is coming off a bye, is 1-1 and will travel to play Novato, which is also coming off a bye and is 0-2.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Later on Saturday, Arcata (1-1) will host St. Vincent de Paul (3-0) at 7 p.m., and the Hoopa Warriors will finally play their home opener against Trinity (0-3) at 7:30 p.m.