By: Krissy Hetherington
Redwood narrowly defeated Golden West last Friday night, holding on to the team’s winning streak. The Rangers played from behind or remained tied with the Blazers throughout the game, but Redwood pulled it together in the fourth quarter with a final score of 42-38.
Although Golden West’s offense consisted of rush after rush resulting in 5 touchdowns between the Wessel brothers, Redwood’s collected 6 touchdowns between 5 different players showing depth and success from a 82 player team.
Golden West, 5-2, 1-1, started off strong against Redwood, 7-0, 2-0. Not even a minute into the game at Mineral King Bowl, Golden West’s Lonnie Wessel ran down the middle for a 30-yard touchdown on the third play of the game. Redwood’s side went silent.
But Redwood kept their composure toward the end of the quarter. Key rushes from running backs Caden Shafer and Diamond Davis put the Rangers on the 8-yard line to end the quarter. Within 5 seconds of the second quarter, Ryan Rios connected with Sam Olson for an 8-yard touchdown catch. Reid Terry’s kick was no good.
After Golden West responded with a touchdown by Lonnie Wessel making the score 14-6, Malachi Aguilar ran it back all the way for a 95-yard touchdown. Redwood prepared for the 2-point conversion and Caden Shafer sliced the defense and found an opening in the endzone to tie the game.
Miscommunication by Redwood’s defense allowed Michael Wessel to walk into the endzone’s left side. Aguilar succeeded in blocking the kick to make up for the mistake.
With about two minutes left in the half, Davis broke through Golden West’s defense on a 51-yard run and was able to find the endzone. Terry’s kick was good and put the team up by one point.
Quickly crushing Redwood’s lead, the two Wessel brothers once again worked together to bring 6 more points on the board with a 3 yard rush and an extra 2 point conversion piercing through the middle. The score stood at 28-21 as Golden West ended the half on a high note with the lead.
Acting first within seven minutes into the half, Redwood’s James Richardson took the ball to the 1-yard line and Marcus Correia finished with a final rush through the middle to tie the game again. No further action occurred the rest of the quarter.
Seconds into the fourth quarter, Michael Wessel rushed into the right side endzone for his third touchdown of the game.
From here, action started to pick up as both teams tried to pull ahead before time expired. Redwood responded as Rios connected with Brian Brown on a 32-yard pass. Richardson was able to rush for about 9 yards and the possession ended in another touchdown as Brown received a short pass running in for a 13-yard touchdown.
Within the next few possessions, Redwood held Golden West to four downs and forced Alberto Nunez to punt the field goal instead of giving up a touchdown. The kick was good on the 25-yard line with less than two minutes to go in the game.
On a 56-yard connection, Rios found Brown who proceeded to drag a Golden West defender for about 20 more yards before going down around the 14-yard line. Shafer then was able to rush to the 10 on the third down.
“I had that play in my back pocket for when we absolutely needed it. We needed our line to block, our quarterback to set his feet and make the throw, and of course get the guy open to get the ball and it just so happened to all work out perfect when they execute like that,” Scharton said on the trick play using Olson as a decoy to get Brown wide open.
On the fourth down, Golden West completed a costly false start moving the ball to the 5-yard line as Redwood also gained the first down. Correia was able to find the endzone again powering through the middle leaving 1:06 on the clock for Golden West to counter.
The score stood at 42-38 as the seconds wound down. Golden West threw a deep pass, which Aguilar was able to intercept as Redwood’s stands and sidelines erupted in cheers.
“It’s nice to have depth, having everybody stick together as a team and the kids are showing up for practice, they’re excited, we don’t have any complaints and everyone knows their role on this team,” Coach Scharton said prior to Friday night’s win.
Having a deep selection (82 players) to choose from really paid off for Redwood as player after player stepped up to the competition and performed their specific part well.
Brown finished the night with three complete catches, one prime touchdown and 78 total yards. His clutch reception in the last few minutes of the game played a major part in the overall win.
“There was nothing on my mind other than the fact that I knew I had to catch it, it was a perfect ball placed by Ryan Rios and I caught it, stuck it out there and drug my feet for as long as I could,” Brown said.
More stats include:
- Diamond Davis: 109 rushing yards, 1 touchdown
- Shafer: 63 rushing yards and a crucial 20 yard catch
- Rios accounted for 139 passing yards going 8-12
- Correia played both sides of the ball, made some big tackles and led the team with two touchdowns.
- Aguilar and Olson also added to the team’s win with one TD a piece.
Redwood was also voted as Team of the Week by ABC 30. The team received dinner at Me-n-Eds and were featured in a small snippet on Monday night for their achievements so far this season.
“We’ve been working this whole year from summer to now and going forward, being recognized for our work is a big accomplishment for all of us. Being there with each other just built our relationship even further too,” said Quinton Johnson, ’20, on behalf of the dinner.
The Redwood Rangers were highlighted on air about their turnaround 7-0 season and also diving into their next upcoming game. Redwood will travel to Hanford to face off the last remaining undefeated team in Tulare County. Both teams stand at 7-0 but know that only one will come with the perfect record at the end of the week. The probable WYL Championship is on the line and kickoff will take place at 7:30 at Hanford High School.