POWER RANKINGS

By Ray Hamill — For one week at least we have a new No. 1 team in the Humboldt Sports Power Rankings for the first time in two seasons.

A stunning loss at McKinleyville — the team’s first in the regular season in two years — sees the Ferndale Wildcats drop out of the top spot for the first time since the 2024 season.

But the big question this week is how far did they drop and how long will that last?

On Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats will get an immediate opportunity to get back on track when they host a dangerous Fortuna team in their biggest rivalry game of the year.

If the Cats win that one, they may reclaim the top spot quickly.

Or would that be enough for a fast-improving St. Bernard’s team to leapfrog the Eel River Valley schools and take over the top spot?

Well, that’s a story for another day.

For now, the Huskies move up one spot to No. 1 in our Power Rankings after they continued to take care of business over the weekend, comfortably beating Eureka 41-14.

Head coach Mike Benbow’s team has now won five straight games, the hottest streak in the H-DNL, and the weekend victory secured at least a co-championship in this year’s Pacific League.

The Huskies and Wildcats are both 7-1 and tied for the best record in the H-DNL.

The weekend loss did not affect Ferndale’s North Coast Section rankings that much.

The Cats fell six spots to No. 24 overall and are now the second highest ranked local team, behind No. 22 St. Bernard’s but still ahead of No. 28 Fortuna.

The Crusaders and Cats are also now the top two ranked teams in NCS Division 7 and on course to receive the top two seeds for the NCS Division-5 playoff bracket, while an injury-ravaged St. Vincent de Paul team drops one spot to No. 3 in the division.

St. Bernard’s and Ferndale, each of whom looks destined to move up two divisions in the NCS playoffs because of their high rankings, could very well meet in a Section championship game on Thanksgiving weekend here on the North Coast, and wouldn’t that be a fun occasion for local fans.

Fortuna, meanwhile, holds steady at No. 3 in Division 6, trailing two top-seven teams in the NCS — No. 2 Cardinal Newman and No. 7 Marin Catholic — and the Huskies are in line to receive a 1 or 2 seed for the upcoming NCS Division-4 playoffs.

After what was arguably their most impressive performance of the year in a dominating 46-12 win over Del Norte, the Crusaders are quickly making a case to be No. 1 in our Power Rankings.

For now, they move up one spot to No. 2, while the Wildcats drop two spots to No. 3.

McKinleyville fans will feel they should be No. 3 after their team’s big weekend victory.

But the Cats have been a more competitive team over the course of the season, and that still counts for something.

The two schools have three common opponents thus far. McKinleyville beat Arcata (27-0) by six more points than Ferndale (28-7), but the Wildcats have been way more dominant against both St. Bernard’s — winning by three points instead of losing by 25 — and Eureka, where they routed the Loggers by 36 points compared to the Panthers’ one-point overtime win.

The Wildcats are also 26 spots ahead of No. 50 McKinleyville in the NCS rankings, so they remain one spot above them in our weekly Power Rankings.

Rounding out the top five are the Del Norte Warriors, who will get a chance to put last weekend’s disappointment behind them when they host McKinleyville in one of the more intriguing matchups of this weekend.

Del Norte is now No. 54 in the NCS and No. 6 in Division 6, one spot behind No. 5 McKinleyville.

Eureka is the next highest ranked local team at No. 69 (No. 5 in Division 5), followed by No. 84 Arcata (No. 11 in D-5) and No. 94 Hoopa (No. 12 in D-7).