Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Legendary teams are nothing new for Ferndale High football, but I’m not sure we’ve ever seen anything quite like what we’re witnessing this season.

The Wildcats continued to roll on Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the McKinleyville Panthers 79-0 and improving to 6-0 on the year, including a 2-0 record in the Little 4.

Incredibly, through their six games the Wildcats have yet to be scored on and have outscored their opponents 378-0.

They wasted little time taking control of Saturday’s game, scoring touchdowns on all seven first-quarter possessions to lead 49-0 going into the second.

They would stretch the advantage to 76-0 before halftime.

The Cats offense took just 12 snaps in the opening period, seven of them resulting in TDs, including four one-play scoring drives.

Two other first-quarter scoring drives took just two plays.

The defense and special teams also contributed in the overwhelming start to the game.

The team defense held the visitors without a first down in the opening quarter and came up with a pair of takeaways — interceptions by Prescott Langer and Rolland McClurg — while Tristen Titus had a fumble recovery on special teams that gave the Cats possession at the McKinleyville 3-yard line.

This is a Ferndale team that is not just dominating opponents in all facets of the game and setting standards we may never see again in the H-DNL, but it’s a group of players that is clearly relishing the game of football and their time playing together, along with a staff of coaches that has the players well prepared and grounded for every game.

“You know, these young men right now look forward to Saturdays and do their work with a purpose for that competition,” Ferndale head coach Clint McClurg said. “And we respect our opponents with proper preparation.”

It’s not a program that is looking to run up the score on overmatched opponents. The Cats are just that good and no one yet this season has come close to matching them or even scoring on them for that matter.

“Our kids want to play football and we are fast and physical and athletic,” McClurg said. “And they take full advantage of every play.”

Langer opened the scoring on a seven-yard run just 85 seconds into the game, before Luke Dixon doubled the advantage on a short TD run with 7:40 remaining in the opening quarter, a score that was set up on a long pass from lineman Jacob Kurwitz to Rolland McClurg.

Barely a minute later, senior quarterback Tanner Pidgeon broke free for a 43-yard TD run, before Garyn McClurg added a 14-yard TD run for his team’s fourth touchdown of the afternoon.

Garyn McClurg scored again with 2:32 remaining in the quarter on a 37-yard run, and Dixon added this second TD of the period on a short run after being set up near the goal line on Titus’ fumble recovery.

Titus was making his first appearance of the season because of injury and his impact was immediate.

Rolland McClurg closed out the first-quarter onslaught when he broke free down the sideline for a 51-yard TD run with 44 seconds remaining in the period.

Junior Christian Enriquez epitomized the Wildcats’ incredible efficiency by nailing all seven of his PAT attempts in the opening quarter.

“We’re just trying to get kids better, so everyone’s playing and trying to improve,” said Clint McClurg, who has gone to his back-ups as much as possible in every game, although Ferndale has just 17 players on the roster, all of whom are making huge contributions. 

Asked what he liked most about Saturday’s incredible performance, the head coach responded, “I liked our explosive big plays offensively at that rate, it was pretty impressive. I think that was very impressive to see offensively, and to do it in different ways.”

The Cats’ defense is setting a very physical tone and the special teams have been every bit as dominating, giving the offense very favorable field position every week.

“It was a complete team performance in all facets of the game,” Clint McClurg said.

The win lifts the Wildcats into a tie with the Tigers atop the Little 4 standings, as they get set for a big showdown next weekend at Arcata, a team they shared the conference championship with a year ago.

The loss dropped the Panthers to 0-2 in conference and 2-4 overall.

They will try to bounce back when they host Hoopa next weekend.

The Ferndale JVs also won their game on Saturday, beating McKinleyville 31-13 and improving to 2-0 in the Little 4 and 6-0 overall.

The Panthers dropped to 1-1 and 3-3.