We are pleased to bring our Prep2Prep readers a second 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 pay little attention to the teams from way up north. The feature will include a missive interwoven into it somewhere each week from longtime Eureka area sports broadcasting personality Tag Wotherspoon titled “Stay in Touch.”
The lead this week is the big 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.
A sad twist to this year’s game is it will be without both a coach and a player.
Legendary Ferndale Coach Kim Jorgensen, a 1973 graduate of Ferndale and the man at the Wildcats helm for 26-years, announced this past spring that he was hanging it up. According to the Cal-Hi Sports list of records Jorgensen leaves with a 252-66 record and eight North Coast Section championships and 19 Humboldt-Del Norte League titles.
The 252 coaching wins are good for No. 3 among North Coast Section coaches that got all their wins in the NCS and No. 1 in the Redwood Empire using the same criteria.
Bob Ladouceur of De La Salle leads the way with 399 wins followed by Matt Sweeney of Foothill who will be looking for win No. 258 this Friday against San Ramon Valley. Bill Foltmer of Middletown will be looking for win No. 261 this Friday against Berean Christian but prior to landing the Middletown job he spent five years at Princeton in the Northern Section.
The new man at the Wildcats helm is 1994 Ferndale graduate Jeremy Griffith, and so far he is 2-0 in his first year, but that could change as Fortuna has won the last four milk cans.
The player missing is Bailey Foley. He is the Fortuna senior that suffered a stroke after playing against Cardinal Newman on August 25.
The good news is according to Eureka Times-Standard sports editor Ryan Sparks who spoke with Foley’s mother, Tara Johnson, on Tuesday doctors brought Bailey out of a medically-induced coma he was put in to ease swelling of his brain and treat pneumonia he had contracted.
According to Sparks she said “Brain is still pretty swollen” but that he has movement in both arms.
This is truly good news for everyone involved, and in particular Foley, his family, teammates and coaches, and all the communities of Humboldt and Sonoma Counties and their outpouring of support.
Stay in touch
The best and I mean best high school football rivalry on the North Coast will be renewed when the Fortuna Huskies entertain the Ferndale Wildcats in the Annual Milk Can Game on Friday night. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Husky Field.
THE WILDCATS: Ferndale improved its overall record to 2-0 with an impressive 45-22 road victory over the Willits Wolverines. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 80-22.
THE HUSKIES: Fortuna enters the game with a 1-1 record. The Huskies are coming off a 34-21 win over the North Medford Black Tornado in their home opener. Fortuna has scored 52 points and allowed 62 points.
COACH GRIFFITH: Jeremy Griffith (Humboldt State - 2000 and Ferndale HS - 1994) is in his first season as head coach of his alma mater.
COACH BENBOW: Mike Benbow (UC Davis -1992 and Fortuna HS - 1988) is in his 10th year as head coach of the Huskies. He owns a 75-36 (.676) win-loss record.
THE SERIES: Fortuna has won the last four games in the series. The Huskies beat the Wildcats 42-14 in the Milk Can Game last season at Coach Carlson Wildcat Field. Ferndale upended Fortuna by a score of 20-14 on September 8, 2012 in the Cream City.
Enjoy the games and until next week - Stay in Touch.
WEEK 3 GAMES
Ferndale at Fortuna
Arcata at Central Valley
Del Norte at Oregon Mazama-Klamath Falls
Eureka at West Valley
Hoopa Valley at Etna
St. Bernard's at Moreau Catholic
Bye - McKinleyville and South Fork
WEEK 2 SCORES
Hoopa Valley 41 McKinleyville 28
Eureka 43 Ukiah 36
Fortuna 34 North Medford 21
Yreka 12 Del Norte 6
Ferndale 45 Willits 22
St. Bernard's 42 Casa Grande
