Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Ferndale Wildcats will travel to Fortuna for the annual Milk Can showdown on Friday night.

There’s a Milk Can and more up for grabs at Fortuna High on Friday night.

There’s also plenty of pride and some much-needed momentum on the line as well, all of which adds to the intrigue of the best football rivalry game on the North Coast.

The bottom line is it’s a special occasion for the two teams.

“Fortuna are an established program right now, and it wasn’t too long ago they were state champions,” Ferndale head coach Clint McClurg said. “Just what they’ve been able to accomplish is motivation enough for our players, but then you sprinkle in the Eel River rivalry, it’s awesome to be a part of it.”

Fortuna head coach Mike Benbow echoed the excitement.

“It’s a friendly rivalry,” he said “We have a lot of friends and family across the river. It’s a special community event that I think people look forward to every year.”

Expect a packed house for the game, as the Cats look to pull one over on their rivals for the first time in seven years.

And McClurg believes his players could be ready to surprise some people.

“I think we’ve got some playmakers and we’ve got an offensive line that’s getting better every day,” the Ferndale coach said.

The Cats got their first win of the season last week at Fall River and are now 1-1, while the Huskies also broke into the win column a week ago, knocking off Kelseyville to go to 1-2.

Whoever comes out of this one on top will have two straight wins to their credit and some pivotal momentum and confidence going forward.

Friday’s game is the Huskies’ home opener, and Benbow is looking for his players to take care of what they need to take care of.

“The way I’m looking at it is we have to take care of ourselves,” Benbow said. “I really believe it’s up to us to take care of our business, and our offensive line has to play well and our defensive line has to play well.”

The Fortuna head coach has been around this rivalry a long time as a player and coach, however, and knows to never take anything for granted.

“You just never know what’s going to happen in a Milk Can,” he said.

Game time is set for 7 p.m., with no JV matchup.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.