Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The Panthers began to turn the corner last year.

The question heading into the 2026 high school football season, however, is whether they can continue to build on that.

After going winless in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024, McKinleyville won three games in 2025, including their season opener against Fort Bragg.

They would finish up the year with a record of 3-7, taking some nice steps in the right direction under first-head head coach Jason Benge.

In 2026, they’ll look to build on that.

“We’ve been going over the summer and we’ve had a decent turnout so far,” Benge said. “It’s been a good summer.”

The season preparations included a team-bonding day at Hoopa, where the McKinleyville players had some down time together and went through some drills against the Warriors and Trinity.

And Benge and his players enjoyed the occasion and a first look at a new-look Hoopa team that features new head coach Tashone Rice.

“It was a really good day up there,” the McKinleyville head coach said. “I really like what their coach is doing.”

The Panthers will hold their first official practice on Aug. 10, before opening the season at home against Cloverdale on Saturday, Aug. 29.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. for the varsity teams, with the JVs taking the field before that.

And while the Panthers will likely have their hands full going up against Ferndale in this year’s Little 4, they’re hoping to compete in conference as Benge looks to establish the program as a legitimate conference contender.

“I think still the top contender is going to be Ferndale, they’re still going to be tough,” he said. “But it should be a fun conference.

“We’re just looking to build on last season and get the numbers up and build the culture at McKinleyville High.”

The loss of standout Trevor Marsh who has transferred out of the area, won’t help matters, but with a new crop of young players moving up the cupboard is far from bare.

One of the team’s key returners is senior Braylon Sotelo, who was a team captain in 2025 as a junior linebacker/running back and an all-league honorable mention

“We’ve got some seniors we’re looking to lean on,” Benge said.

A new-look H-DNL schedule this year sees all eight of the league’s 11-player programs face off against each other once each, although only games against conference teams will count in the race for the Big 4 and Little 4 championships.

So that means the Panthers will play all the Big 4 schools.

“I like it,” Benge said of the new schedule. “It’s going to be a challenge for us trying to compete with Fortuna and Del Norte and those bigger schools. It’ll be interesting.”

After hosting Cloverdale on opening weekend, the Panthers will travel to play Fort Bragg, before closing out their pre-league schedule against Arcata, the first of two matchups against their close rivals this fall.