Congratulations to head coach Kim Jorgensen and the top-seeded Ferndale Wildcats for winning the North Coast Section Division 5 championship with a convincing 53-14 victory over the third seeded St. Vincent de Paul Mustangs at the Redwood Bowl on November 24.

Ferndale led 14-7 in the second quarter before scoring 39 unanswered points on its way to capturing its 13th section title and first since 2007.

The Wildcats will find out on Sunday if they have been selected to play in the CIF Northern California Division 4 bowl game.

Meanwhile, the fourth seeded Arcata Tigers were a successful two-point conversion away from upsetting the top-seeded Justin-Siena Braves in the Division 4 semi-finals.

Arcata rallied from a 27-0 first half deficit, only to lose a heartbreaker to Justin-Siena by a final score of 34-33.

SMALL SCHOOL RANKINGS

1) Ferndale (12-1) - The Wildcats had 52 carries for 567 yards and seven touchdowns in the championship game. Seniors Jacoby Hughes and Justin Lang combined for 358 yards rushing and five touchdowns to help lead the Wildcats to their tenth straight win.

2) St. Bernard’s (7-5) - The Crusaders enjoyed another successful season, as they advanced to the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.

3) South Fork (4-6) - Junior quarterback Joey Wittlake threw for 2062 yards and 20 touchdowns to
pace the Cubs to their most wins since 2009.

4) Hoopa Valley (2-8) - The Warriors, who won back-to-back Division 5 championships, didn’t qualify for the post season for the first time since 2008.

LARGE SCHOOL RANKINGS

1) Arcata (11-2) - Senior running back Aleric Stone capped off a brilliant prep career with 213 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Junior running back Tyler Keil carried the ball 19 times for 153 yards.

2) Fortuna (7-4) - The tenth seeded San Marin Mustangs handed the Huskies a loss in the opening round of the playoffs for the first time in five years.

3) Eureka (4-6) - The young and inexperienced Loggers didn’t earn a berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

4) McKinleyville (3-7) - Even though the Panthers won their first Big Five Conference game since 2004, they didn’t advance to the post season for the third straight year.

5) Del Norte (2-8) - The Warriors lost their last six games to miss the NCS playoffs for the first time in the Ray Rook era.

NORTH COAST SECTION PLAYOFF SCORES

DIVISION 4 SEMI-FINALS

#1 Justin-Siena 34 #4 Arcata 33
#10 San Marin 32 #6 St. Helena 26

DIVISION 5 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#1 Ferndale 53 #3 St. Vincent de Paul 14

NORTH COAST SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

DIVISION 1
Saturday, December 1

#3 James Logan (12-1) vs. #1 De La Salle (12-0) at Dublin High School (7:00 p.m.)

DIVISION 2
Friday, November 30

#2 Rancho Cotate (12-0) vs. #1 Clayton Valley (11-1) at Diablo Valley College (7:00 p.m.)

DIVISION 3
Saturday, December 1

#2 Marin Catholic (12-1) vs. #1 El Cerrito (13-0) at Pinole Valley HS (7:00 p.m.)

DIVISION 4
Friday, November 30

#10 San Marin (7-6) at #1 Justin-Siena (10-2) (7:00 p.m.)

Enjoy the games and until next week - Stay in Touch!