Redwood Tackle Football Retains Cowhide In 28-14 Victory Over The School Down The Street

On Friday, October 30th, the Rangers defended the Cowhide against the Maroon School in a 28-14 win in the 71st annual Cowhide.

By Fabian Anguiano and Aliyana Olivera

As the cold fall breeze filled the bowl and both sides of the bowl were filled with school spirit, Redwood won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving the Pioneers the ball first.

Quarter-By-Quarter Analysis

First Quarter

Wide receiver Jevonn Brown ‘28, took the ball out to the 20-yard line to give the Pioneers the first look on offense.

The first play of the game involved quarterback Levi Young ‘28, throwing a short pass to Brown for a modest gain of three; the Pioneers followed up with a short run by running back Kayden Silvas ‘27, for a gain of four, bringing up an early 3rd and 3.

On 3rd down, Young slinged the ball over the middle to receiver Jarell Oakes ‘27, who made a one-handed grab and kept his balance, blazing past Ranger defenders, getting all the way into Ranger territory.

After a stuffed run on 1st and 10, Young threw a screen out to Silvas, who found separation on the edge all the way to the end zone for six; the extra point was drilled, giving the Pioneers the early 7-0 lead.

The Pioneers kicked off to the Rangers; returner Andre Ceballos ‘27, took the ball out to the 25 for the Rangers’ first possession of the night.

The Rangers opened up with quarterback Nash McElree ‘27, throwing a screen to wide receiver Jarius Brooks for a solid gain of eight to start off the drive. The Rangers followed up with another screen this time to tight end Exavier Jackson ‘30, which would have moved the sticks, but it was called back due to a holding penalty, making it 1st and 18.

With 1st and long, McElree would keep it himself for a gain of five, making it 2nd and 13 for the Rangers. McElree followed up with a pass to Jackson, who would take the ball into Pioneer territory.

Now facing 3rd and 6 after a short run by running back Qur’An Goodman ‘27, McElree kept the ball himself, picking up the first down with his legs, giving the Rangers a fresh set of downs.

Now with a fresh set of downs, Goodman found a hole and took the ball all the way to the one-yard line; just short of the pile on, Goodman proceeded to put the exclamation point on the drive, getting in for six, and the extra point tied up the game 7-7 with five minutes left in the first quarter.

The ball would be brought out around the 25 for the Pioneers to start their second drive of the game. Silva got the handoff on the first play of the drive, getting a solid gain of nine to make it 2nd and 1. Silva was given the ball once again, picking up a fresh set of downs for the Pioneers.

Young readied himself in the shotgun for a pass until the pass was knocked down at the line of scrimmage by defensive end Adrian Legarda ‘28, making it 2nd and 10 for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers responded with Young faking the toss and throwing an out route to tight end Falcon Briggs ‘28, for a nice gain, moving the sticks and getting into Ranger territory. The Pioneers followed up with a nice run by Silvas, getting deeper into the red zone.

This would conclude the first quarter.

Second Quarter

In the first play of the second quarter, Silvas got loose once again, picking up about a 13-yard gain. After two incompletions, the Pioneers now faced a 3rd and 8 in the red zone.

Young looked for a receiver on a stick route, which was almost intercepted by cornerback London Butler ‘27. The Pioneers elected to kick a field goal, which was missed wide right, resulting in a turnover on downs at the Ranger 20.

McElree started the drive with a dangerous throw over the middle, which was tipped and almost intercepted. McElree followed up by launching a deep pass on a corner route intended for Jackson, though it would go through his hands, bringing up 3rd and 10.

The Rangers converted on 3rd and 10 with a catch on a corner route by receiver Ollie Richardson ‘28, giving the Rangers a fresh set of downs at their own 33. They followed up with an end-around to Brooks, picking up a nice gain and moving the sticks once again for the Rangers.

Now facing a 2nd and 10, running back Chase Luna ‘27, received the handoff for a gain of six, bringing up a crucial 3rd and 4 for the Rangers. Luna got his name called again, picking up enough to move the chains for the Rangers to get into Pioneer territory.

With a fresh set of downs, the Rangers attempted a QB draw with McElree, which got read like a book by the Pioneer defense, bringing up a 3rd and 7. McElree looked for the option once again but was stuffed once again at the line, bringing up 4th and 7 for the Rangers.

The Rangers decided to go for the gamble and go for it on 4th and 7; McElree found Richardson, though it was too short, requiring Richardson to dive down for the ball, resulting in a turnover on downs.

On the first play for the Pioneers, Young felt the pressure from the Rangers and decided to throw the ball away, bringing up 2nd and 10 for the Pioneers. They followed up with a big catch by Oakes, getting all the way into Ranger territory for a big gain.

With rhythm going on the offense, fullback Joshua Barney ‘27, received the handoff for a gain of 10 and a fresh set of downs, getting deeper into Ranger territory. Young followed up with a pass to a Pioneer receiver, keeping the offensive rhythm in full stride.

The Rangers put a halt to the rhythm for a moment with defensive tackle Yain Garcia-Cervantes ‘27, and Legarda combining for a sack, resulting in a loss of 11 for the Pioneers.

Young followed up dropping back looking for a receiver on a corner route; the pass fell incomplete, though a penalty marker got thrown due to early contact by a Ranger defender, resulting in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down for the Pioneers.

Young followed up with a pass to a receiver for a decent gain with seconds lingering in the first half. Young would look for a downfield play in the red zone, though it would be broken up by Butler with 14 seconds left in the first half.

Now facing a 4th and long, the Pioneers took the gamble and came out empty-handed, with the pass falling incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs, giving the Rangers possession with nine seconds left.

McElree opened up the drive with a screen to Brooks, who attempted to find space until being tackled down; by then, the zeros had hit the clock, and both teams headed to the sidelines tied up at 7-7.

This concluded the first half.

Third Quarter

The Rangers started their first possession of the second half at the 20 after the kick landed in the endzone for a touchback. McElree started off finding Brooks on a screen who gained yards after contact for a Ranger first down.

The Ranger offense would seem to continue to keep the momentum going with a huge run by Goodman inside the Pineer 10, though it would be called back due to a holding call on the Rangers, making it 1st and 20 at the Ranger 25.

Now facing a 1st and long, McElree looked Jackson’s way on a deep corner route, and it would fall through the hands of Jackson once again, making it 2nd and 20 for the Ranger offense. They followed up with a carry by Goodman, which only amounted to a one-yard gain, making it a long 3rd and 19.

McElree kept it himself, taking the ball for a gain of 11, well short of the sticks, making it 4th and 8 for the Rangers; they elected to punt.

The Pioneers opened their first drive of the second half with a handoff to Silvas, which amounted to nothing, getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. They followed up with another handoff to Silvas, which only picked up a gain of two, bringing up an early 3rd and 8.

The Pioneers decided to run the ball once again, only picking up three yards, resulting in a three-and-out as they elected to punt right back to the Rangers.

The Rangers opened up their first drive of the second half with a handoff to Goodman once again, which got stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the Pioneer defense; McElree followed up with a pass to a Ranger receiver downfield into Pioneer territory, moving the sticks.

Now in the red zone, what was supposed to be a handoff to Goodman turned out to be disastrous as the ball fell to the ground during the exchange, with a Pioneer defender jumping on it, giving the Pioneers possession on their own 10-yard line.

The Pioneers opened up with Young getting pancaked by Cervantes and Legarda once again for a loss of 10, getting backed up to the 1, almost resulting in a safety. The Pioneers followed up with a short run, bringing up 3rd and long.

Facing a crucial third-and-long, Young looked to Oakes, who made a contested catch over the heads of two Ranger defenders, but it was ruled that his foot was out of bounds when he got possession, forcing the Pioneers to punt backed up into their own end zone.

The punt bounced around the Ranger 40, and Ceballos decided to pick it up and return it himself, getting just into Pioneer territory.

With seconds left in the 3rd quarter, after a first down was picked up by a Ranger receiver, McElree threw the ball up for Brooks on the left side of the end zone, and Brooks snatched the ball out of the air coming down with an acrobatic touchdown catch; the extra point was drilled, giving the Rangers their first lead of the night.

The Pioneers offense looked to respond after their defense gave up their first touchdown since the first quarter, though the drive would be short-lived as they went three-and-out, resulting in a punt giving the Rangers the ball right back at about the 25-yard line after a return by Brooks.

After a few downfield plays got the Rangers into Pioneer territory, McElree found receiver Steven Malgarejo ‘30, for a big gain, getting all the way to the Pioneer 10-yard line.

This concluded the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

With the playbook open on 1st and goal, Goodman received the handoff and walked in untouched for a Ranger touchdown; the extra point was drilled, extending the Ranger lead to 21-7.

With the Pioneers looking to respond, they opened up with a pass that was rejected by Butler, who was in tight coverage, bringing up a 2nd and 10 for the Pioneers. Young followed up looking for a receiver over the middle, though cornerback Nathan Gonzalez ‘27, climbed the ladder for a big-time interception, putting the Rangers in immaculate field position at the Pioneer 19.

The Rangers started off with a handoff to Goodman, who found a hole and had a nice gain, though it would be called due to a holding call against the Rangers, making it 2nd and 19.

After a short run by Goodman, he got his name called once again when McElree threw out a screen to him on third down for a short gain, bringing up 4th and 9.

On 4th and 9, the Rangers elected to take the risk and go for it. McElree dropped back to pass and found Richardson, who bulldozed over defenders, rumbling his way into the end zone for a physical catch-and-run touchdown. The extra point was made, making the score 28-7 in favor of the Rangers.

Looking to find a glimpse of hope for a possible fourth-quarter comeback, the Pioneers opened up with Silvas getting stuffed behind the line of scrimmage by Legarda for a loss of three.

The Pioneers followed up with Young finding receiver Jaelyn Maldonado ‘27, for a modest gain, bringing up third down. Young followed up with a deep pass to a receiver along the sideline into Ranger territory, giving the Pioneer offense some rhythm. The Ranger defense responded on the following play with Legarda taking down Young at the line of scrimmage.

Facing 2nd and 10, Young found Oakes once again, who blazed past defenders all the way into the end zone for six, giving the Pioneers life; the extra point made the score 28-14 and a two-possession game with less than seven minutes left.

After a solid return by receiver Jamison Bocanegra ‘28, the Rangers hopped back on offense.

The Rangers got decently into Pioneer territory after a few nice plays and some runs by Goodman, though fourth down would arise. As they trusted in the leg of Josgar Guerrero ‘27, to extend their lead, the snap was good, the hold was good, and Guerrero missed the kick just wide to the left, giving the Pioneers possession.

After two small gain plays, the Pioneers faced a 3rd and 6 with around four minutes left in the game. Young followed up by finding a receiver who galloped down the endzone into Ranger territory for a big gain.

After the big play, Young looked for another big one, throwing to the left side of the endzone for a receiver, which was almost intercepted by Butler, who was in tight coverage, bringing up 2nd and 10.

The Ranger defense disrupted the drive momentarily, pressuring Young to throw the ball out of bounds, bringing up 3rd and 10.

After a Young pass slipped through the hands of a Pioneer receiver, the Pioneers faced 4th and 10. Young dropped back, rolled out to his right due to pressure, and threw an interception to safety Jaylen Gridiron ‘30, with 2 minutes and 37 seconds left, sealing the Rangers’ victory.

The Rangers’ offense drained the clock with short runs all the way until the clock hit zero’s, as the confetti and smoke rose from Redwood’s student section; Redwood’s regular season officially ended.

Player Spotlight

Offense: Wide receiver Jarius Brooks ‘28, had nine receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown, averaging nine yards per reception.

Now heading into playoffs, Brooks is feeling, “Great. We’re just going to prepare for playoffs, improve on what we did badly, and get ready for the next games.”

Brooks had multiple impressive plays during this game; however, he wants to improve by running better routes and helping his team improve.

Brooks and the Rangers will prepare week by week and day by day to prepare for playoffs, or to go win Valley or State.

Brooks believes that he did well, ” I made sure everyone was on task and did my part to help us get the win. I wasn’t too worried about my stats; I was just focused on making sure we won.”

In the first half, our offense was a little slow, but after the second half started, our team started picking up.

Brooks shares how His teammates adjusted after halftime, “We went to the locker room with our heads up; we knew we had to come out strong, especially after getting the ball back. Whitney was going to be tired, and we definitely played better in the second half. We put up three unanswered scores. We just gave it all,” said Brooks.

Defense: Cornerback London Butler ’27, was making plays all over the field with great coverage, PBU’s, and tackles.

Butler feels good after this performance; it felt good that they opened up, adjusted, and played together as a team.

Butler shares what the defense’s main focus was during the game, “Our focus was not giving up any deep passes and making sure everyone did their job.”

Butler believes the defense did best at, “Breaking up passes and not giving up on Dives even when they kept pushing. I think I could have caught a couple more passes I broke up and maybe even scored a couple of touchdowns for us,” said Butler.

To win Cowhide in his senior year feels Good; we worked hard all season. This is one of the biggest games of the year, and now we move on to the playoffs.”

Butler is going to prepare for the playoffs as a player by doing his job every play, never giving up, and making sure he does his part for the team.

The Rangers’ first playoff game will be on Friday, November 6th, in the Mineral King Bowl against Bulard, with kickoff being at 7 p.m.

Fabian Anguiano

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Fabian Anguiano '28,is a VERY passionate sportswriter and editor for the Redwood Gigantea. He is entering his third year with the Gigantea, and he likes motivating others and being involved in everything sports related. If you would like to reach him, just email him at [email protected]

Aliyana Olivera