Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — Here we go again.
Big 4 rivals Fortuna and St. Bernard’s will play each other for the third time this season in the North Coast Section playoffs on Saturday, and this time the stakes are even higher, with a place in the Division-6 championship game up for grabs.
The two schools shared this year’s Big 4 championship, with both teams posting a home win against the other in a pair of games that went down to the wire and with little to separate them on each occasion.
The Crusaders took game one by just four points (26-22), while the Huskies took the rematch by just eight points (26-18), and this is a rivalry that has treated North Coast fans to some thrilling encounters almost every time they have met in recent years.
And both head coaches — Fortuna’s Mike Benbow and St. Bernard’s Matt Tomlin — are expecting another great battle at Crusader Field on Saturday, as is usually the case when the Huskies and Crusaders play each other.
“Both games (this year) have been really good,” Benbow said. “And again, it’s going to come down to who makes the plays.
“Matt and his staff do a good job year in and year out, and I think we do a good job year in and year out.”
Tomlin echoed the sentiment.
“I’ve said it many times, I have all the respect in the world for coach Benbow and his program,” he said. “We’ve had some epic battles.”
The idea of playing a rival for a third time in the same season is not ideal, but going into the big weekend game local fans know at least one H-DNL team will play for a section championship on Thanksgiving weekend.
The question is which one.
“If you’re going to be the best, you have to play the best,” Benbow said. “It’s going to be a good day for football. Obviously, you don’t love playing a third time, but I’d rather be playing at this stage of the season than handing in my pads.”
Especially after an 0-3 start to the season, a start that included a 49-0 loss to neighbors and rivals the Ferndale Wildcats in the always highly-anticipated Milk Can game back in September.
But something clicked with the Fortuna players after that, as they began to find their groove and put several early-season injuries behind them.
Since then, Benbow and his players have won seven of eight games to go to 7-4, with their only loss in that run coming at St. Bernard’s.
And the Huskies have played well in all phases of the game during that impressive run, which included a 42-23 win over Petaluma in their playoff opener last weekend.
As usual with a Benbow coached team, the players have bought into the process despite the early struggles and they continue to improve each week.
“We have had a good week of practice,” the longtime Fortuna head coach said. “Our kids have been focused and we’re excited to play for a place in a championship game.”
Benbow believes his players learned from their first meeting with the Crusaders in a game that saw them struggle in the second quarter and never fully recover.
“I think as you grow and as you start to develop, you’ve got to go through your bumps and bruises,” he said. “And I think we learned a lot about our team (in that game).”
It certainly appeared so from the response of the players three weeks later at Husky Field, as Fortuna handed the Crusaders their only loss of the year so far in a game the Huskies had to win to keep their conference championship ambitions alive.
The question for Fortuna fans now is can the team continue to grow?
Benbow believes the Huskies can.
“I think the kids have really honed in on the things we’ve asked them to do, and we’re making plays,” he said. “Ultimately, I just love my team, and I’m really excited for the kids to play in a big game.”
Saturday’s game is set for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Mix 95.1 FM, with Tag Wotherspoon calling the action, as well as streamed live on the NFHS Network.
St. Bernard’s is seeded No. 1 in the Division-6 bracket, while the Huskies are seeded No. 4.
No. 2 St. Helena and No. 3 Bishop O’Dowd will play in the other D-6 semifinal on Friday night.
A win for the Crusaders on Saturday would see them host next week’s championship game, while a win for the Huskies wood see them travel to play either St. Helena or Bishop O’Dowd next week.
For more on the Crusaders’ preparations for the big weekend showdown, see Versatile Crusaders get a boost ahead of big weekend NCS game …
