POWER RANKINGS

By Ray Hamill — One week after their most disappointing performance of the year, the Ferndale Wildcats responded with arguably their most impressive win of the year this past weekend.

The Cats welcomed neighbors Fortuna to the Cream City and shut out their biggest rivals for the second straight year with a statement 14-0 win.

Even missing several key players, the Wildcats were clearly fired up for this one and ready to go from the opening play, and the victory likely will have earned them a top seed for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.

And while we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves just yet, that win may very well give them home field for a section championship game against St. Bernard’s in three weeks, providing, of course, both schools can continue to take care of business between now and then.

The loss to the Panthers dropped the Cats from No. 1 in NCS Division 7 to No. 2, but the victory over Fortuna sees them leapfrog the Crusaders and reclaim No. 1 in the division.

That’s very important, because the rankings are unlikely to change this week, with Ferndale (8-1) and St. Bernard’s (7-2) expected to take care of business in games against Hoopa (1-8) and Eureka (3-6), respectively, ahead of the announcement of the NCS playoff brackets this Sunday.

Because of their high rankings in the NCS — Ferndale is No. 20 out of 102 programs and St. Bernard’s is No. 21 — both teams will move up two divisions for the NCS playoffs and are now almost guaranteed to receive the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the Division-5 bracket.

But while the Cats are favored ever so slightly by the MaxPreps computers, which decide the NCS rankings, we’re taking a slightly different view here at Humboldt Sports, based on the eye test.

Very slightly.

We have these two teams tied for top spot in our Power Rankings, the ninth time in 10 weeks the Cats have featured as No. 1 this year and the first time the Crusaders have.

Yes, Ferndale did get the better of a shorthanded St. Bernard’s team a few weeks back, but the Crusaders have shown ample improvement since then and are playing as well as any other H-DNL team right now.

That’s not to take from the Cats and their impressive victory over the Huskies, especially on defense.

If these two longtime rivals should face off in a section championship game on Thanksgiving weekend, that will be a matchup no local fans will want to miss.

It’s also a matchup that would likely take place at Coach Carlson Wildcat Field, in large part because of the Cats’ weekend win.

The Huskies, meanwhile, still have plenty to play for despite the weekend loss, and they could very well get a Milk Can rematch in the NCS playoffs.

The weekend loss ended a five-game winning streak for Fortuna (7-2), which dropped two spots in the NCS rankings to No. 30.

The Huskies remain No. 3 in the Division-6 rankings and look like they will also be included in the Division-5 playoff bracket, which would give the H-DNL as many as three schools in that bracket.

We’ll have to wait and see how a weekend game against Del Norte might affect their rankings before Sunday.

After taking over top spot in our Power Rankings last week, the Huskies drop to No. 3, but in reality there’s little to separate the top three teams in the area right now.

All three are enjoying impressive seasons — collectively they have held the top three spots in our Power Rankings all year — and any one of them could end up with a section championship before all is said and done.

The Del Norte Warriors (4-5), meanwhile, are coming off their most impressive win of the campaign last weekend and appear to be playing their best football at an opportune time.

Head coach Nick White and his players got the better of a resurgent McKinleyville team 26-14 in Crescent City with a much-improved performance than in the previous week’s lopsided loss at St. Bernard’s.

The Warriors can still claim a share of this year’s Pacific League championship with a win at Fortuna on Friday night, although that challenge may have gotten a little more difficult in the wake of the Milk Can game, which could have the Fortuna players a little more fired up and determined to get back on track this week.

For now, the Warriors move up one spot in our Power Rankings, leapfrogging a McKinleyville team they got the better of on Friday.

That win also sees the Warriors move up five spots to No. 49 in the NCS and switch places with McKinleyville in the Division-6 rankings, where they go from No. 6 to No. 5.

As of right how, it appears as if the Warriors will be included in the Division-6 field for the postseason, but whether they get a home game remains to be seen.

The Panthers (6-3) round out our Power Rankings at No. 5, dropping one spot from last week.

The weekend loss also sees them drop four spots to No. 54 in the NCS rankings and slide one spot to No. 6 in Division 6.

A weekend league win over the Arcata Tigers (1-8), whom they shut out 27-0 in a non-league showdown earlier in the year, would clinch the Redwood League title outright and give the Panthers a probable home game in Division 7 of the NCS playoffs.

Also in the NCS rankings this week, Eureka (3-6) is No. 72, Arcata is No. 85 and Hoopa (1-8) is No. 95.