Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — In the true spirit of the concept of team, it was impossible to separate the three frontrunners for this year’s Humboldt Sports Football Player of the Year.
And considering the level of dominance they overwhelmed their opponents with all year, it’s no surprise to see the Ferndale Wildcats dominate the end-of-season Humboldt Sports Football awards.
Simply put, the Cats were the best team in the H-DNL back in August, even if every North Coast fan didn’t know it at the time, and they were the best team in the H-DNL in December, when they were the last league team standing.
You don’t see this sort of dominance every year, and when a team like this comes around all you can do is marvel at the brilliance and try to enjoy every moment as much as you can.
Head coach Clint McClurg reflected on his team’s season this week, and in hindsight he was able to appreciate what the Cats achieved a little more than when they were in the midst of it all and on their way to a state record-setting points total for a regular season, a campaign that saw the Cats score over 50 points in eight of their 10 regular season games and surpass the 70-point margin in four of those games.
“It can leave you speechless sometimes,” McClurg said on reflection. “It’s truly amazing.”
And that’s why this year’s end-of-season awards were all a relatively easy choice.
Unlike the H-DNL all-league awards, which are split into Big 4 and Little 4 and are voted on by the conference coaches, the Humboldt Sports awards are given to the best team, player(s) and coach in the entire H-DNL.
The 2025 Humboldt Sports Team of the Year is the Ferndale Wildcats, the Coach of the Year is Ferndale’s Clint McClurg (and his staff), and the Player of the Year goes to seniors Ethan Weitzel, Prescott Langer and Tanner Pidgeon.
All three players are outstanding three-year team captains, who leave a legacy the likes of which we have never seen before.
They are two-time North Coast Section champs and 2023 state champs, and their team scored at a rate California has never seen before.
And all of that will take some beating considering the brevity of an average high school playing career.
“The impact they left on our program will have ripples forever,” McClurg said. “Sometimes it’s a debate on who the MVP is between the Little 4 and Big 4, not 2025. That belongs to No. 13 (Langer) and No. 2 (Pidgeon).”
No one who saw them play could argue that assessment, and not too many people who saw Weitzel play would argue he didn’t belong there as well.
Certainly not Humboldt Sports.
Weitzel set the tone in the trenches, and Pidgeon and Langer took full advantage, relishing equally in the moment whether they were running with the ball in their hands or blocking for whoever was.
They were arguably more impressive at the latter.
All three excelled in their roles and thrilled the fans clad in red at Coach Carlson Wildcat Field on Saturday afternoons, or wherever their travels took them.
But it wasn’t just their heroics on the field of play that earns these three young men the respect of their coaches, peers, Ferndale fans and Humboldt Sports.
McClurg described them as “unique, outstanding and rare student athletes.”
“They care about the student aspect,” the coach said. “They care about the athlete aspect. They care about the community and they care about our teachers.
“These young men have invested so much into the Wildcats, and their experience as student athletes is money well spent.”
Weitzel might have been overlooked by the conference coaches in 2025 — he was, however, a conference MVP as a junior — but McClurg and his staff of excellent coaches, as well as the Ferndale players, knew just what his presence meant to the team, a team that simply would not have enjoyed the same success without him anchoring the offensive and defensive lines.
“The leadership that he displayed up front in the trenches …,” McClurg said. “I wish we had three (Little 4) MVP awards. All three are very deserving.”
As for what’s next for this incredible trio?
Langer has already announced he will play at Division-1 UC Davis after graduation in 2026, while Pidgeon and Weitzel are still weighing their options.
And they will have plenty of options if they should choose to continue their playing careers on the college fields.
“It’s very exciting for No. 13,” McClurg said. “UC Davis is an outstanding fit for him (athletically and academically).”
The Wildcats are also an outstanding fit for McClurg.
The former Humboldt State player, who took over as the Cats head coach in 2018, has done an incredible job with the program, carrying on a winning tradition like no other in the H-DNL and adding to the program’s record haul of NCS championships for a public school.
But more than that, McClurg epitomizes the storied sideline culture of the Ferndale Wildcats, following the traditions established by former legendary Cats coaches, such as Carlson and Kim Jorgensen.
This is a high school program that is as much a part of its community as any other in any other sport, probably in all of California and perhaps well beyond.
And McClurg embraces that uniqueness.
As for the team of the year award, Fortuna and St. Bernard’s both also had memorable campaigns and would each have garnered serious consideration in just about any other year.
But what the Wildcats achieved was even more special and remarkable and could set this group apart for years to come.
These Ferndale players didn’t just piece together a resume that made them a worthy team of the year, but with what they accomplished and the manner in which they achieved it, they might just be the team of the decade.
Congratulations to the 2025 Ferndale Wildcats football team.
They didn’t just enjoy a memorable season for themselves and their community, they entertained and thrilled the entire North Coast.
