Beneath the Lights: Rising Stars of Redwood’s Varsity Football Make Their Debut

By: Mia Trevino

On Friday, August 25th, Jimmie Burk ‘26, Cash Rico ‘25, and Luke Sanchez ‘26 played in their first varsity home game in the Mineral King Bowl against Clovis North.

Redwood’s Varsity Football home games have a Ranger spirit like no other Redwood event. The ambiance is charged with a blend of enthusiasm and jitters. The contrasting levels of enthusiasm between Freshmen, JV, and Varsity home games are obvious to both players and spectators.

Jimmie Burk ‘26, is a running back. Last year Burk started his career on the freshman team but was later pulled up to varsity for playoffs. Burk says that “warm-ups before the game were one of his favorite parts. You can see how many people are in the student and parents section, and it gets your nerves going.”. 

Burk feels the differences between playing at a freshman game last year, to now being on the field for a varsity game. “It’s so different playing on a Friday night, than a Thursday late afternoon.”. He says that “the amount of people watching really affects the way you play.”.

Cash Rico ‘25, has been playing football for Redwood since freshman year. Rico was pulled up to varsity his sophomore season for playoffs as well. He was a wide-reciever, and now plays free safety. Rico says theres a, “Big difference in the energy at the varsity games.”. “Last year at the JV games, you could see people coming in early just to get seats for the varsity games.”.

Going into his junior year, Rico says he’s “most looking forward to winning and playing with his team.”. He says his favorite part of the night was “playing for the crowd and hearing the student section from the field.” 

Luke Sanchez ‘26 played on Redwood’s freshman team last season he was also pulled up to varsity for playoffs.

Sanchez says “The experience of being on the field, in the game, is totally different than being in the stands”. He says he was, “nervous when he first walked out onto the field” but got more comfortable as the game went on.

Sanchez says “The biggest difference between playing at a freshman game versus a varsity game is the tempo.” He says, “There’s more excitement in the game.”. When asked how the amount of people watching the game affected him, he said he, “Felt more pressure from the people watching in the stands.” 

Sanchez’s goal for his season on the team is to, “Work hard to earn his starting spot.”.

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