By Ray Hamill — Saturday marked the beginning of a whole new season for the Ferndale Wildcats, but they continued to roll.

After an historically dominating regular season, the Cats welcomed the Arroyo Dons to Coach Carlson Wildcat Field for their North Coast Section Division-5 playoff opener, and they cruised to a 54-14 win to advance to next week’s semifinals.

They succeeded in much the same way as they have all year, with the team defense and special teams setting a physical tone and the offense taking full advantage of just about every opportunity.

And they did that despite playing a school with 10 times the student population.

“I think right now the most impressive aspect of this team is the continued momentum of the regular season and understanding that everything that happened has no bearing on the postseason,” Ferndale head coach Clint McClurg said. 

Once again there was little to complain about for Ferndale fans, who have become accustomed to seeing their team perform at a very high level this season, and accustomed to seeing them doing so in all phases of the game.

The Cats scored touchdowns on four of their five first-half offensive possessions to end the game as a contest early, and they carried a 34-0 lead into the break before stretching the advantage to 54 points in the third quarter.

By the fourth quarter, the game had gone to a running clock, something you don’t often see in the playoffs.

As usual, there were several standouts in the red jerseys, with senior captains Prescott Langer, Tanner Pidgeon and Ethan Weitzel once again setting the tone and leading the way.

The Dons, to their credit, were effective at times moving the ball with their short passing game, but on the two occasions they did threaten in the opening half, the Wildcats found a way to respond when it mattered most.

Langer had a game-defining 90-yard pick six in the final minute of the opening quarter to put the home team up 21-0, one of three first-half touchdowns by the outstanding senior.

Langer’s presence in the lineup has been continually felt in all phases of the game, but his blocking could be the most impressive part of his game.

For good measure, Langer also had an incredible punt on the one occasion the Cats offense stalled, kicking the ball 68 yards from inside the Ferndale 10 to deep into Dons territory, just the fifth time all year the Cats have been forced to punt.

“He’s a huge playmaker for us, and in limited touches,” McClurg said. “He continues to be highly productive wherever needed and he had another outstanding performance.”

So too did Pidgeon and Weitzel.

Pidgeon is enjoying a season he won’t easily forget at quarterback and safety, while Weitzel has been every bit as influential on both lines and is arguably setting a standard no other lineman in the H-DNL has managed this year.

While the Dons enjoyed some success with their short passing game, the Ferndale secondary did not allow any deep completions, with defensive backs Pidgeon, Tristen Titus and Rolland McClurg all excelling in their roles.

“I was really pleased with the secondary,” Clint McClurg said. “They kept it in front.

“I was really pleased with our overall team defense.”

On the ensuing drive after Langer’s pick six, the visitors once again drove deep into Ferndale territory, but Luke Dixon ended the threat with an interception in the end zone on a second-and-goal from the nine-yard line.

Pidgeon capped a dominating first half for the home team with a 19-yard TD run with 41 seconds remaining, while junior Garyn McClurg also enjoyed a good day.

The young McClurg has really grown as a player this season and is taking full advantage of his opportunities on both sides of the ball.

As a running back, he continues to grind out some tough yards, including a five-yard TD run to open up an early 14-0 lead for his team, and as a linebacker he does an exceptional job setting the edge.

“I think he had an outstanding game,” the head coach said.

So too did the entire offensive line, and, as the coach stressed, when you run the ball as effectively as the Cats do, the line has to be outstanding.

Sophomore Rigel Hahner and junior Brandon Bailey also continued to have an impact on the defensive line, with the former showcasing the incredible depth the Ferndale football program possesses after just recently being called up from a JV team that also was undefeated in the regular season.

Sophomore Liam Bishop also has been “very impressive” in multiple roles and is “continually improving,” according to his coach, while some of the younger players saw substantial playing time in the second half, including sophomore Preston Killingsworth who scored a third-quarter TD.

“That was nice for him,” Clint McClurg said. “We got some of the young bucks in there.”

The Ferndale players and coaches will now turn their attention to Salesian, as the three Division-7 schools in the Division-5 bracket have advanced to the tournament semifinals, although Ferndale is the only public school of the three.

And while many Cats fans are not happy with the fact their team was moved up two divisions for the postseason — even if it was widely expected — the players and coaches are not complaining and are merely going about their business and taking care of what they can control.

“Ferndale’s not a small school, we’re a good school,” is how the head coach described it. “Football’s very humbling and we’ll continue to try and get better.”

Judging by Saturday’s performance against a Division-3 sized school,  they are succeeding at that as well.