We’re a week later this year than last but are still pleased to bring our Prep2Prep readers a third year of a short synopsis of what’s going on in the far northernmost region of the Redwood Empire portion of the North Coast Section, an area the locals call “Behind the Redwood Curtain”, since the rest of the NCS and even the Redwood Empire don’t pay a lot of attention to the teams from way up north. The feature will include a missive interwoven into it each week from longtime Fortuna sports broadcasting personality Tag Wotherspoon titled “Stay in Touch.”
The lead this week was this past week’s matchup called the Milk Can Game between Fortuna and Ferndale, a series that goes back over at least 50-years, but according to Wotherspoon the records are incomplete and the teams have actually played each other for almost 100 years.
In this year’s game Fortuna won its sixth straight over arch-rival and neighboring Ferndale with a convincing 47-13 road victory that got them to 3-1 after a season-opening loss to state-ranked Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa, and in doing so held tight at No. 19 in the Prep2Prep North Coast Section rankings and also secured a spot in the P2P NorCal Rankings Others Considered list.
Fortuna now travels to Tracy on Friday night where the Huskies face off against the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, St. Bernard's hosts Ferndale in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Crusader Field.
Stay in touch
Fortuna at Tracy
THE HUSKIES: Fortuna has won three games in a row and the Huskies have scored 135 points and allowed 82 points.
THE BULLDOGS: Tracy has a 2-2 record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 54-18 road loss to Manteca. Tracy has outscored its opponents 172-122. The Bulldogs are members of the Tri-City Athletic League and compete in the CIF Sac Joaquin Section.
COACH BENBOW: Mike Benbow (UC Davis - 1992 and Fortuna HS - 1988) is in his 11th season as head coach of the Huskies. He helped guide Fortuna to the CIF 5-A State Championship last year. Benbow has a win-loss record of 91-38 (.705).
COACH SHROUT: Matt Shrout (Cal State East Bay - 1998 and San Lorenzo HS - 1993) is in his ninth season as head coach at Tracy. He has a 54-39 (.581) win-loss record.
THE SERIES: The two schools are playing each other in football for the first time.
Ferndale at St. Bernard’s-Eureka
THE WILDCATS: Ferndale enters the game with a 1-2 record...The Wildcats have scored 68 points and given up 114 points.
THE CRUSADERS: St. Bernard's owns a perfect 4-0 record. The Crusaders cruised to a 67-28 home win over Hoopa Valley-Hoopa last weekend. St. Bernard's has outscored its opponents 195-63.
COACH MCCLURG: Clint McClurg (Humboldt State - 2002 and Eureka HS - 1995) is in his first year as head coach at Ferndale. He was the Wildcats' Varsity Defensive Coordinator and Junior Varsity Head Coach last season. McClurg spent 10 years (2007-16) as head coach at Burney in the CIF Northern Section.
COACH TOMLIN: Matt Tomlin (St. Bernard's HS - 1995) is in his sixth season as head coach of his alma mater. He has helped lead the Crusaders to five straight conference titles and the 5-A state championship in 2015. Tomlin was also the head coach of the Piner Prospectors for two years (2009-10). He owns a career win-loss record of 62-26 (.705).
THE SERIES: St. Bernard's has won the last 10 games in the series. The Crusaders earned a 47-20 home win over Ferndale on October 28, 2017. St. Bernard's defeated the Wildcats 62-23 in the Cream City on October 7. The last time Ferndale beat the Crusaders was by a score of 44-20 on October 26, 2013 in Eureka.
Enjoy the games and until next week - Stay in Touch.
WEEK 5 GAMES
Branson-Ross at South Fork-Miranda
Hoopa Valley at Trinity-Weaverville
Mazama-Klamath Falls (OR) at Del Norte-Crescent City
Eureka at Shasta-Redding
Fortuna at Tracy
Ferndale at St. Bernard's-Eureka
Bye - Arcata and McKinleyville
WEEK 4 SCORES
Fortuna 47 Ferndale 13
St. Bernard's 67 Hoopa Valley 28
South Fork-Miranda 52 Round Valley 8
Arcata 22 Willits 20
McKinleyville 69 Elsie Allen-Santa Rosa 6
Del Norte-Crescent City 35 Brookings-Harbor (Oregon) 0
Eureka 62 Foothill-Palo Cedro 14
