By Ray Hamill —A rare Friday afternoon football showdown at Ferndale High between the Wildcats and Santa Ynez will be a special occasion for a couple of reasons.
First, the Cats will remember the fallen heroes of 9/11 on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks with a special ceremony commemorating the occasion between the JV and varsity games.
And second, the game will feature a showdown between head coaches and first cousins Clint McClurg of Ferndale and Josh McClurg of Santa Ynez.
“We do have the red, white and blue on the sides of our helmets, and we like to represent the freedom that this great country has,” Clint McClurg said. “9/11 will always be a day when we can honor the fallen and the first responders.”
The Ferndale coach is also looking forward to the opportunity of a first-ever matchup against his cousin Josh, someone he has been close with his entire life.
The two cousins, who lived together briefly when they were young and were college roommates years later, remain in close contact and often talk football with each other.
“It’s a pretty unique and fun football situation,” Clint said, referring to his cousin as a sort of mentor. “It’s always great to talk to people you know, trust and love about football, and it’ll be pretty cool. I appreciate him and his program.”
Josh McClurg says they always wanted to play football together when they were younger but it never materialized — he played for Chico State while Clint was playing at College of the Redwoods — and that coaching against each other is the next best thing.
“We’ve been close our whole lives,” the Santa Ynez coach said. “We were always playing football, doing foot races, everything you can think of to compete.”
The game is also an important one for both coaches and their players as they look to continue to progress ahead of league play.
Ferndale, which had a bye last week, will be playing its second game of the season and comes into the weekend showdown with a record of 1-0 after comfortably beating Anderson 31-7 two weeks ago.
The Pirates, meanwhile, started their season a week before Ferndale and have played three games, coming in to Friday’s game with a record of 1-2, including a 31-14 loss to Nipomo last weekend.
They are the No. 10 ranked team in Central Section Division 5, while Ferndale moved up one spot this week to No. 1 in the North Coast Section Division-7 rankings after previous No. 1 St. Vincent de Paul lost at St. Bernard’s on Saturday.
(St. Bernard’s is now No. 2 in the Division.)
And the Ferndale coach is expecting a battle against a versatile Pirates team that can do a lot of things well on offense.
“They’ve shown the ability to do a lot of different things to make it difficult to prepare for,” Clint said. “They’re a multifaceted offense. It’s going to be a very tough, physical contest.”
The Wildcats will present just as much of a challenge for the visitors.
The most successful public school program in NCS history is coming off a phenomenal campaign in 2025, one that saw the Cats set new standards in the H-DNL with eight shutouts in the regular season.
“It’s a preseason game and it’s a good test for us,” said Josh, who is in his 15th year with the Pirates. “They’re coming off a record-breaking season and they play a high-quality level of football.”
This year’s Ferndale team, which features many of the same players from a year ago, is establishing its own identity, but is off to another impressive start after a comfortable win at Anderson.
Some things will never change, and the Cats like to play a physical brand of football that wears down its opponents with a relentless ground attack, while taking advantage of some timely play action.
The Ferndale coaches and players have had an extra week to prepare for this game, using the time to “freshen up on some things,” according to the coach.
The Pirates, meanwhile, feature a new look team this year despite a roster that includes 17 seniors, many of whom saw only limited playing time in 2025.
And their head coach knows what they will have to do if they are to pull out a win on Friday.
“Clint does a great job with those guys,” Josh said. “They love to run the football and we know they like to establish the run and play bully ball. They want to make you uncomfortable.
“I think anyone that plays Ferndale knows you’re going to want to control the line of scrimmage and slow their run game down, and I think that’s the key for us defensively.
“And offensively not be predictable.”
Friday’s game kicks off at 2 p.m., with the schools’ JV teams taking the field at 11:30 a.m.
