A night to remember for Mack Town as Panthers stun the Cats with late field goal

By Ray Hamill — A 35-yard Lucas Jones field goal with 11 seconds remaining lifted the McKinleyville Panthers to their biggest win in years on Friday night, as they stunned the Ferndale Wildcats on a Homecoming night they won’t easily forget.

The Panthers, who were held scoreless through the opening two quarters, scored four second-half touchdowns and forced five takeaways on the way to a 32-29 win, ending the Cats’ 20-game winning streak in regular-season games.

The victory, which lifted the Panthers to 2-0 in league and 6-2 on the season, also secured at least a share of the Redwood League title.

“Tonight was a huge night for our program and for the McKinleyville community,” said McKinleyville head coach Jason Benge, who has completely turned around the fortunes of the program since taking over before last season. “It’s just surreal.”

It’s even more remarkable considering the Panthers went winless in both 2023 and 2024, and their points tally on Friday night was the most the Wildcats have given up in over two years.

Ferndale had won six straight games between the two schools, including five by shutout, outscoring McKinleyville 342-12 in that run.

McKinleyville trailed for most of the night, but would pull even late in the fourth quarter on a Corbin Green TD pass to Gunner Grande and a successful two-point conversion.

Just moments later, senior team captain Braylon Sotelo came up with an interception to give possession back to the Panthers deep in Ferndale territory, and they would take full advantage with Jones nailing the late field goal to ignite wild celebrations on the McKinleyville sideline.

Jones, who also had a key reception for 24 yards to help set up an earlier TD, isn’t even the first choice kicker, but was handed the opportunity after an injury to the team’s starter at practice on Thursday.

The field goal gave the home team its first lead of the night.

The loss was the first of the season for the Cats, who appeared to be in control earlier in the evening.

But five turnovers, including on three consecutive drives on either side of halftime, proved too costly.

Two of the McKinleyville takeaways, including Sotelo’s big interception late in the game, would lead to scores.

Green continued his impressive season and the sensational sophomore is playing at an MVP level.

He completed 21-of-32 passes for 326 yards and four TDs and had two interceptions.

Grande also had a huge night for the home team, finishing with eight catches for 226 yards and three touchdowns.

Talon Turner scored the other TD and finished with 34 yards receiving on four catches.

For good measure, the McKinleyville JVs also won 14-8 thanks to a late touchdown, making it a memorable Homecoming night for the school.

“It was a just a huge night for both our teams,” Benge said. 

And for the seniors in particular, many of whom were on hand during the winless campaigns of 2023 and 2024.

“I’m just so happy for our program and for our seniors who suffered through those seasons,” Benge said.

Junior Bowdy Hicks led an outstanding night for the McKinleyville defense with 13 tackles, while the ever-reliable Sotelo, Francisco Mendez, Wes Montgomery and Everett Grutzmacher all stepped up on that side of the ball.

“Those guys have been playing solid all year,” said Benge, who added that every one of his players on defense had a big nights.

Asked what impressed him the most about his team’s performance, Benge pointed to the way the players responded after a tough first half.

“Their resilience in the second half,” the coach said. “The way our kids played, the way our defense played. They just played lights out.”

The first half was far from pretty, as the visitor carried a 15-point lead into the break after TD runs by Garyn McClurg and Preston Killingsworth.

“It’s kind of been our problem all year. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Benge said of the first-half performance. “The penalties in the first half. When you play a team like Ferndale and a team like St. Bernard’s (last week), it puts you in a hole. But we battled back in the second half.”

The Panthers, whose only other league title in the last three and half decades came in 2022, can clinch the Redwood League championship outright with a win over Arcata in two weeks.

Ferndale, which dropped to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in league, can still win a share of the league title, as can the Arcata Tigers, who got their first win of the season at Hoopa on Friday night, improving to 1-7 and 1-1.

Next week, McKinleyville travels to play Del Norte, while Ferndale host Fortuna in the annual Milk Can rivalry game.