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A magical season continued for the Ferndale Wildcats on Saturday night.

The Cats traveled to Rohnert Park to play top-seeded St. Vincent de Paul in the Division-5 North Coast Section championship game and won 26-14.

The victory not only secured a 15th all-time section championship for the most successful public school football program in NCS history, but it also keeps their season going and secures a place in next weekend’s CIF state playoffs.

“It was definitely a great team effort,” Ferndale head coach Clint McClurg said. “This is what we practice for, what we spend the offseason training for in the weight room, this type of game.”

Two more wins for the last remaining H-DNL team would clinch a second-ever state championship for the Wildcats, following the state title they won two years ago.

This was their biggest challenge of the season, as you would expect in a NCS final against the No. 15 ranked team in the NCS, and they passed with flying colors.

Although they certainly had to battle.

A 19-yard TD pass from quarterback Tanner Pidgeon to Colton Renner on their opening possession of the night gave the No. 2 seeds an early 7-0 lead.

But the Mustangs, who were ranked above the Wildcats for the entire regular season, wasted little time tying things up, scoring on a 14-yard TD run by junior Barrett Chaput early in the second quarter.

The two teams went into halftime tied at 7-7.

But Ferndale was just getting warmed up.

The Wildcats haven’t trailed at any stage all season and that remarkable run would continue against the Mustangs.

A long TD run by Pidgeon in the third quarter saw them retake the lead (13-7) and they would add to their tally early in the fourth on a 27-yard TD pass from the senior quarterback to receiver Tyler Broderick.

A failed two-point conversion attempt left the score at 19-7.

But it mattered little.

The Cats would add a fourth TD a few minutes later on a pass from Pidgeon to Liam Bishop, and a successful Christian Enriquez PAT stretched the advantage to 19.

But the Mustangs were the No. 1 seeds in the bracket for a reason and they would not go down easily.

They added to their tally with a touchdown at the 5:27 mark to make for an interesting and nervous finish for the Ferndale fans.

As they have all season long, however, the Cats continued to play composed on defense and came up with two big defensive stands late in the game to see them over the finish line.

Conditioning once again seemed to make a difference late in the game, just as it did a week ago against Salesian, and the Ferndale players wore down their opponents with their physical style of play.

“I think our team did an outstanding job of getting into the tough competition and sticking with it,” McClurg said. “We’re a well-conditioned team, but I think our physical style ultimately was the difference.

“We are who we are. That’s the identity of the Ferndale Wildcats.”

With the win, the Wildcats improved to 13-0 on the season, and more importantly, they’ll be playing in December, something every local team strives for.

“It’s well deserved and well earned by these young men,” the coach said. “It’s exciting right now, to be practicing football in December. We’re excited, and we know there’s going to be new challenges next week.”

The Ferndale fans also played a key role in Saturday’s win, with a large contingent making the trip south.

“If there was anybody in the surrounding area that was a Ferndale fan, I’m pretty sure they were there,” McClurg said. “It seemed like the whole town was there.”

The matchups for the NorCal regional bowl games will be announced on Sunday.

St. Vincent de Paul closed out the season 11-2.

Of the previous seven H-DNL teams to qualify for the state playoffs over the past decade, five have gone on to win a state title.

That group includes St. Bernard’s (2015 and 2019), Fortuna (2017), Ferndale (2023) and Arcata (2024).