A feisty cat fight will be fought when Wildcats challenges the McKinleyville Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ferndale has 11 straight wins, McKinleyville has 15 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Ferndale's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Hoopa Valley 32-0 at home. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won three matchups by 27 points or more so far this season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Ferndale was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 210 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in 11 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Ferndale wouldn't let Hoopa Valley keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Ferndale can thank Jonah Anderson and Tanner Pidgeon for forcing all of them. Pidgeon is also on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season. Another thorn in Hoopa Valley's side was Jarrett Smith, who made ten total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defended a pass in addition to snagging an interception.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for McKinleyville's offense. They were outmatched by Arcata on the road and fell 51-0. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 870th, while the Tigers are ranked 327th).
Ferndale pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for McKinleyville, their loss dropped their record down to 0-5.
Everything came up roses for Ferndale against McKinleyville when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 34-0 win. Does Ferndale have another victory up their sleeve, or will McKinleyville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
