The night of August 31, 2018 was a rollercoaster for fans and spectators as they witnessed the 20-67 Tulare Union, (3-0) win over Redwood, (0-2). Side note: The Tribe were Central Section DII Valley Champions in 2017. Although it wasn’t a pretty game, the Rangers showed perseverance in the fact that they never decided to give up. They tried their best but hit a wall. A wall that they just couldn’t get over. This wall being an increasing point difference.
The 2018 team is lead by 4 captains, La’Dre Aguilar, 19, John Vega, ’19, Chris Galutira, ’19, and Alex Rivera, ’19.
Head coach, Shaun Ball, has really driven an idea of “Family” in the boys’ heads and personally, I think they embodied this well especially in times like these. Coming off a recent 35-0 loss to Dinuba they really wanted to stick together and play “like a family.” Vega, says the bond is close between each person on the team and he really just likes being able to all hang out and have fun.
“The guys to my left and right are my brothers, I feel like your family should have your back no matter what…they support you no matter what.”
-JASON HRUBY, ’19
Going into the game, the boys were hyped, pumped and ready to go (despite not having any music from the student section). Hruby’s mindset for this game is simply, “Never give up on the game no matter how tired I am or what the score is. As a team our expectations for this game is to get the win and prove everyone wrong.” Vega said, “I have to trust my gut, what the QB coach has told me, and trust my teammates that they’ll do their job. And I also just have to stay calm.” And to end it off, Galutira said, “I expect us to go out and play physical and just execute. I feel that our team is going to have a lot of momentum going into the game since it’s going to be at home so I believe we will play good.”
The game started out rowdy as the Student Section, Cheer, Dance Force, and spectators are prepared for the kickoff of the home opener at around 7:30 in the Mineral King Bowl. Redwood received but the first drive stalls and they just turned around to punt. Union ends up scoring on a 28-yard touchdown pass. The bad snap on the point after gives TU a 6-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first quarter.
Redwood starts next drive on own 25 yard line. A big play by Rivera occurs but gets called back by a penalty. The drive stalls after an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Redwood punts off to TU who start on their own 46. A 32 yard pass from the Tribe’s quarterback, Nathan Lamb, ’19, sets up a first and goal on the 8. Tu scores on a QB keeper but the conversion is no good meaning the score is now 12-0 with 4:52 still left in the first quarter.
The Rangers start their quest to put some points on the board at their own 20 yard line. 3 and out after a delay of game penalty and a sack. Redwood then punts and TU starts at Redwood’s 42 yard line. A 30 yard pass from Lamb sets up Union with with a first and 10 from the 11. After 2 more plays, they score once again. The extra point is good and the score is now 19-0 with 1:55 left still in the first.Redwood goes 3 and out yet again and punts to TU. Hunter Bryan, ’19, sets TU deep into their own territory with a long punt to end the first quarter. 3 rangers are injured heading into the 2nd quarter but the boys are still eager to score.
The Tribe starts out at their own 15. A 65 yard pass from Union’s QB on the very first play gets them to Redwood’s 20. 2 plays and a 23 yard pass later, Union adds to their lead with another touchdown plus extra point making the score 26-0 with 10:31 left in the 2nd. Aguilar returns this with a 91 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Although the extra point is not good, rangers were able to cut the lead a little bit shorter making it now 26-6 with 10:18 left.
TU starts at own 43 but the sack fumbles setting them back and forcing the to go for it on the 4th down but our Ranger defense is able to stop them. Redwood takes over on downs at own 44. A 17 yard pass from QB Vega to Sam Olson, ’20, then another 14 yard pass to Olson right after. Rangers have first and goal from the 5 after a few short runs. A 10 yard pass connection between Vega and Olson scores Redwood another touchdown plus a successful extra point. The score is now 26-13 with 3:37 left in the first half.
Union starts at own 41 yard line and continue to have a strong running game leading them to an 8 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion is no good and the boys end the first half 32-12.
Redwood isn’t able to stop Union’s offense and after four short plays, Union scores with 11:22 left in the 3rd. A 94 yard kick return is called back due to holding and Redwood starts at own 10. The drive ends up 3 and out forcing Redwood to punt again. The punt is then partially blocked and TU takes over at the 10 yard line first and goal. A simple 10 yard touchdown pass on the 2nd down created another touchdown for the Tribe, 46-13 with 9:55 left in the third.
Caden Shafer, 21, steps up in his first varsity home game with a 45 yard run which gets Redwood into good field position. A lucky pass from Vega to Joel Atkinson, ’20, leads to a touchdown and the PAT is good. 46-20, with 7:31 left in the third. From there, Redwood wasn’t able to do much else and TU charged past the Rangers with 3 more touchdowns to end the game, 67-20.
Vega took leadership after the game wen I interviewed him post-loss. He told me, “We can’t come out dead, we need to be ready to play off the get go…We need to have a good week of practice and then go out next Friday and just do what we’re coached to do and we can win.” I also asked Galutira for his input and he countered that with, “We can learn [from this game] that we need to keep practicing and improving. We had a couple great plays and our main goal is WYL and improvement is what we need to learn…Mental mistakes [factored into this loss] because we made a lot of errors and penalties that we shouldn’t have.”
“We need to use our past losses as motivation. Losing makes our desire to win greater and it makes the team want it more.”
-CHRIS GALUTIRA, ’19
Although they had a rough first two games of the season, the boys are hoping to bounce back stronger, smarter, and faster than ever. They will use these games as lessons and move forward onto the next game which is away against Tulare Western, 3-0, at 7:30pm.
Krissy Hetherington
Krissy ('21) is a senior and this is her third year as Editor in Chief. She has been in Journalism since beginning of freshman year and has a strong passion for sports journalism. Outside of the Gigantea, Krissy is a part of the Cross Country, Basketball and Track teams. She is also in her third year as an intern writer for the Sun-Gazette. You can reach her by email at krist.he0076@vusd.us
Tags: brothers, Central Section, family, football, friday night lights, rangers, Redwood, the tribe, tulare union, Valley, WYL
