Photos by Ray Hamill./HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — One day after securing a 15th all-time North Coast Section championship, the Ferndale Wildcats found out who they will play in their NorCal Regional game next weekend.

The brackets were announced early Sunday afternoon, and the Cats were placed in Division 4-AA, matching up against Sutter High School.

The good news for the Wildcats is that the game will take place at the Redwood Bowl, allowing local fans the opportunity to take in the action here in Humboldt County.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and the winner will advance to play either Immanuel Reedley or Barstow for a state championship in two weeks.

Ferndale won a state championship two years ago in the 7-AA bracket.

The Cats improved to 13-0 with a 26-14 victory over St. Vincent de Paul in Rohnert Park on Saturday night, a win that secured a second NCS crown in three years and a place in the state playoffs. 

The Sutter Huskies are 12-1 and clinched the Sac-Joaquin Division-5 championship with a 42-27 win over Casa Robles on Friday night.

They have succeeded with a dominating run game and are averaging 332.6 yards a game on the ground.

They have also passed for 128 yards a game, and similar to the Cats they are a high-scoring team, averaging 56.2 points in their wins, including 155 points combined in their three playoffs games. 

Ferndale is the eighth H-DNL team to advance to the state playoffs in the last 11 years, and five of the previous seven have gone on to win a state title, including the Arcata Tigers in 2024.

If the Cats beat Sutter, it would be the third straight year an H-DNL team has competed in a state championship bowl game.

Sutter is a high school with around 750 students.

Ferndale fans won’t have to travel far for the NorCal Bowl game.