By: Krissy Hetherington
Friday night, Redwood (5-0) hosted their last non-league match against Porterville High School (3-2) for their annual Homecoming game. The Rangers came out on top yet again even after trailing by a point going into the half. Despite some injuries, Redwood sealed the deal with 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter resulting in a final score of 34-17.
Redwood took the early lead as Diamond Davis was able to split the defense twice in the first quarter and having 2 touchdown runs, “I completed the goal I set for myself going into the game and did my job for the team.”
After having the 13-0 lead, Redwood was able to force Porterville to a three and out possession but were a little shaky in the second quarter. Porterville’s quarterback threw a pass to their running back in the end zone and the kick was good. Then a few minutes later, threw another touchdown pass making the score 14-13. This was the first time Redwood would play from behind.
Head Coach Scharton agreed that a few slow, flat practices really translated onto the field, “We teach our kids you practice how you play and we did just that, the positive takeout from this was a wake-up call and hopefully we learn from this next week.”
After halftime, on a questionable 15 yard penalty on Redwood’s defense, Porterville capitalized on this and was able to score a 27 yard field goal putting them up 17-13 now. The rest of the third quarter was slow but within four seconds of the fourth half, Redwood seemed to come alive as the team we all know.
Quarterback, Ryan Rios was able to connect with Brian Brown deep in the endzone for an 8 yard pass where the team took over the lead and now played their own game.
Around 7 minutes left, Dominick McCormack, intercepted a Porterville pass around the middle of the field. From here, Reid Terry had a strong run to the 35 then Shafer rushed to the 25 on the next play. These two runs set the tone and allowed Brown to catch a 23 yard pass over Porterville’s head in the endzone.
“There was nothing in my mind, I kept myself leveled and it felt great, ” said Brian Brown on his game changing touchdowns. He also mentioned during halftime instead of stressing about the score, the team was focused on keeping their heads and hearts in it and picking each other up which is what translated onto the field. Moving forward, Brown said on behalf of the win, “I think we got our swagger back.”
Now up 27-17, Redwood punted to Porterville. On the very next play, Marcus Correa got a pick six on the 20 yard line in Redwood territory and sealed the win for Redwood with 2 minutes left to go.
Scharton said their mental mistakes cost them in the first half but “I think they responded, we stub our toe from time to time, but with five minutes to go we woke up and we didn’t have anyone making those deep plays to get going but those last few plays were momentum builders and once we have momentum we’re almost unstoppable.”
Going into league, Redwood still stands undefeated and are ready to contest all 5 teams in league to keep their perfect record. Their next game is this upcoming Friday at Lemoore High School.