By Ray Hamill — The Ferndale Wildcats jumped 10 places in this week’s North Coast Section rankings and they remain No. 1 in our Power Rankings for the fifth straight week this season.
A dominating 48-12 win over Eureka at the Redwood Bowl caught the attention of the MaxPreps computers, who lifted the Cats into the top 10 out of 107 section teams for the first time all year.
Whether they stay there or not will depend on how they fare in the game of the season so far here on the North Coast this weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, Ferndale will make the short trip to Eureka to play St. Bernard’s in a showdown between the last two remaining unbeaten teams in the area and a game local fans will not want to miss.
Fresh off back-to-back shutout victories over Sacred Heart Academy and Hoopa, the Crusaders also took a step in the right direction in this week’s NCS rankings, albeit a smaller one than Ferndale, moving up one spot to No. 16.
Head coach Matt Tomlin’s team holds steady at No. 2 in the Humboldt Sports Power Rankings, but a win over arguably their biggest rivals this weekend means we would see a new No. 1 next week for the first time since 2024.
A remarkable run has seen the Wildcats remain No. 1 since last season’s preseason rankings, and no one has been able to knock them off that pedestal since then.
Conversely, it seems as if we have a different No. 1 in the NCS Division-7 rankings every week, with the Cats re-taking the top spot this week from St. Vincent de Paul, which drops to No. 2 but remains one spot ahead of No 3 St. Bernards despite losing to the Crusaders earlier in the season.
After their bounce back win at McKinleyville on Friday night, the Fortuna Huskies hold steady at No. 3 in our Power Rankings for the third straight week, while McKinleyville and Del Norte are tied for No. 4.
The Panthers lost to Fortuna over the weekend, but they have shown enough through their opening four games to suggest they are a legitimate top-five school in the H-DNL right now.
The Warriors, meanwhile, finally got their first win of the year over a winless Arcata team on Friday night, dominating the Tigers 50-7.
Despite the win over McKinleyville, Fortuna drops two spots to No. 34 in the NCS, with No. 59 McKinleyville the next highest ranked team, followed by No. 65 Del Norte.
Eureka is just two spots further back at No. 67, followed by No. 93 Hoopa and No. 96 Arcata.
Fortuna is also No. 3 in Division 6, with McKinleyville just two spots behind the Huskies at No. 5 and Del Norte at No. 6.
Eureka is No. 6 in Division 5, Hoopa is No. 12 in Division 7 and Arcata is No. 12 in Division 5.
The South Fork Cubs, meanwhile, are No. 2 in NCS eight-player Division 1, one spot behind Branson.
POWER RANKINGS
1 — Ferndale (4-0)
The Cats have held on to the top spot since the 2025 preseason
2 — St. Bernard’s (4-0)
The Crusaders have posted back-to-back shutouts
3 — Fortuna (3-1)
The Huskies got back to winning ways on Friday despite some key injuries
4T — McKinleyville (3-1)
The Panthers could be the most improved team in the HDN this year
4T — Del Norte (1-3)
The Warriors got their first win of the year on Friday, albeit against winless Arcata
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