By Ray Hamill — Three H-DNL teams remain unbeaten as we head into week five of the 2026 high school football season, and all three feature prominently in this week’s Humboldt Sports Power Rankings.
The Ferndale Wildcats remain atop the rankings after a big 52-0 win at Fall River on Friday night.
Incredibly, the 3-0 Cats have now shut out 10 of their last 13 regular-season opponents, including two straight, and they have given up just one touchdown through their first three games this year.
But while they remain No. 1 in or Power Rankings, they are not the highest-ranked local school in the North Coast Section.
In this week’s MaxPreps rankings, St. Bernard’s is the top-ranked H-DNL school, holding steady at No. 17, one spot behind a St. Vincent de Paul team the Crusaders beat in week two.
The Crusaders, who cruised to a 46-0 win at Sacred Hearty Academy in Michigan last week and are No. 2 in our rankings, also trail the No. 1 Mustangs by one spot in the NCS Division-7 rankings, with Ferndale No. 3.
The Cats are No. 20 overall in the NCS, up five spots from last week.
The Fortuna Huskies, meanwhile, remain at No. 3 in our Power Rankings after enjoying a bye over the weekend.
Two weeks ago the Huskies (2-1) suffered their first loss of the campaign against a Ukiah team that is 4-0 and has risen to No 12 overall in the NCS, and they’ll be eager to get back on the field this weekend at McKinleyville.
Fortuna is now No 32 overall in the NCS and No. 3 in Division 6.
The Panthers, who also had a bye last week, hold steady in both our Power Rankings (No. 4) and the NCS rankings (No. 42), and they are one spot behind Fortuna at No 4 in Division 6.
This weekend’s game at Mack will tell us a lot more about both of those teams.
Del Norte also holds steady in our Power Rankings at No. 5, despite trailing Eureka in the NCS rankings.
The Loggers are No. 69 in the NCS for the second straight week, while Del Norte is down two spots to No. 72.
Both Eureka and Del Norte had byes this past weekend.
The Loggers remain just outside our rankings for the second straight week, although a win over Ferndale this weekend would see them make a big jump.
Rounding out the NCS rankings, Arcata is No. 82 and Hoopa is No. 92.
The South Fork Cubs, meanwhile, are making some noise in eight-player football this fall and are now ranked No. 1 in the NCS.
The Cubs are 2-1.
POWER RANKINGS
1 — Ferndale (3-0)
Incredibly, the Cats have shut out 10 of their last 13 regular-season opponents
2 — St, Bernard’s (3-0)
The Crusaders have shown improvement each week thus far
3 — Fortuna (2-1)
The Huskies will be eager to get back on the field after a weekend bye
4 — McKinleyville (3-0)
The Panthers will be tested against No. 3 Fortuna this week
5 — Del Norte (0-3)
The Warriors are still looking for their first win of the season
