Pirates football taking a long trip to a family reunion

By Mike Chaldu · Fri Sep 11 2026

Coach Josh McClurg's team heading up to Ferndale, in Humboldt County, to play team coached by his cousin Clint

In every season, a high school football team has to deal with road trips, usually five of them in a 10-game regular season.

Santa Ynez High School is no different: They have to travel this year to cities such as Nipomo, Atascadero, and Santa Maria.

"Sometimes you take a pretty long trip and it can be beneficial," said Pirates head coach Josh McClurg. "It forces team bonding, staying together, and always trying and keep the team together just by the traveling and stopping for team meals and stuff like that.

"Just a couple years ago we had to go up to Bishop Union for a playoff game, and it was a seven-hour trip each way. It ended up being our last game, but all the time together really brought the team together."

This week, however, the SYHS football squads, both JV and varsity, will embark on an ambitious trip to Ferndale. If you're not familiar with Ferndale, it's a city up in Humboldt County, in the northwest corner of California, and the Pirates will be traveling up there this week to play the Ferndale Wildcats of the Humbolt-Del Norte-Redwoods League and the CIF North Coast Section.

The website distancebetweencities.us has the trip to Ferndale at 553 miles and approximately nine hours. It's probably the longest road trip the football program has taken.

"We're leaving [Thursday] at about 6:45 a.m. with two buses, one for the JV and one for the varsity," McClurg said. "We'll actually be taking the 101 most of the way, probably get off it to drive around the East Bay and avoid heavy traffic, but then get back to the 101 and there another highway right off the 101 that will take us to Ferndale." The team will spend the night in Ferndale, play the afternoon game against the Wildcats, and return home most likely early Saturday morning.

Of course, some may ask, "why Ferndale?" Well, here's a hint: the head coach of the Ferndale Wildcats is Clint McClurg. Yes, Clint and Josh are cousins.

"Our dads are brothers, and when we were really young, his family lived in Santa Ynez, but then moved away when we were in the third grade," Josh said. "Later, we were roommates when I was in college at Chico State, and we've been following each other ever since."

Clint McClurg said his brothers and Josh and his siblings have always remained close.

"Our families got together all the time, and for a short while we lived together," Clint recalled. "But then my family moved up to Eureka, where me and my brothers played football."

Clint said his oldest brother Scott actually played for Santa Ynez High, before the family moved up north for his senior year, and the McClurgs established a legacy at Eureka High.

"My brothers Walter and Ryan played there and were both league MVPs," he said. "Then I did well there, and then played at College of the Redwoods, who recently inducted me into their Hall of Fame, and then joined the Army for a stretch before coming back to Chico, where I spent some time as Josh's roomate when he was going for his teaching credential."

Eventually, Clint earned a degree in kinesiology and he and Josh followed their similar paths to teaching and coaching football.

Clint has spent the last 10 years coaching the Wildcats, and has been very successful at it: Last year's team went undefeated on its way to the CIF North Coast Section Division 5 championship before falling in the state playoffs, and the 2023 team won the state championship in Division 7-AA, beating Los Angeles Fairfax in Torrance.

Thanks to the family connection, the Wildcats received a little hospitality on their way to the championship game that year, as Josh offered the team a chance to stop off and use the SYHS facilities to conduct a practice.

"Once, I found out they were going down to LA, I knew this would be a perfect place for them to stop off and rest," Josh said. "They came by and held a practice on our field and were able to take a break from the road."

It was an excellent opportunity for Clint to stop off and enjoy the area he once lived.

"It was a full-circle moment for me, and everyone was very accommodating when we came down on our way to the championship game," Clint said. "The two areas are distant from each other, but really a lot similar. We both have dairy farmers and ranches, and that small-community feeling."

The two coaches were able to schedule this week's game earlier in the year in what Josh described as a small window of opportunity.

"We tried to schedule one before and it fell through, but we always had our eye on doing this," he said. "I think in April we were able to sort it out — and I felt it was our last chance if we were ever going to do it — and we were able to get it finalized."

So the Pirates and Wildcats are set to kickoff at 2 p.m. Friday (a lack of lights on FHS's field necessitates afternoon games) and the date, Sept. 11, is also significant. Especially, to an Army vet like Clint.

"I think it's meaningful that, in addition to playing against a coach I'm close to, we can also pay tribute to those who perished in 9/11, and those who have protected our country," he said. "I'm also looking forward to a game where we can battle for 48 minutes, and line up and shake hands with people who mean a lot to us. I'm really looking forward to that."

The Pirates and the Wildcats will face off at 2 p.m. Friday, and those in the Santa Ynez Valley area, or anywhere for that matter, can see a livestream of the game on the www.nfhsnetwork.com website. There will also be a link to the livestream at www.maxpreps.com/ca/santa-ynez/santa-ynez-pirates/football/