by: Tyler Stark
Pictures taken by: Abby Miller and Aiden Hatch
Last week Redwood football had their first dominant win of the season, as they destroyed Golden West 41-0, to improve to their 2-4 record that they have been struggling with this season. Everything was clicking for the Rangers last Friday, leading to a full-proof win.
This week the Rangers have an incredibly tough test, they will face off against the 5-0 Hanford Bullpups. Not only is this Hanford team undefeated, but they have also beat all 5 of their opponents by at least twenty-seven points. The Rangers are going to need to play harder than they have ever played this season if they want to get the win on Friday night.
Head coach Kevin Scharton is looking to see his boys go out there and give it their all. Scharton says, “The biggest thing I want to see from the boys on game night is to do their very best.” Scharton goes on to say his team has had a great week of practice, and he believes that’ll show on Friday night.
Due to the incredible year Hanford has had they are receiving a lot of hype. However, tight end Kolby Howard ‘22 knows this does not phase his team. Howard says, “We have been hearing all the hype but not paying much attention to it. We know that if we go and play our best game we will secure a victory.”
Howard goes on to say that his team needs to execute like last week if they want to secure the victory.
It’s no secret that Hanford has an incredibly strong offensive team, the Rangers will have to collaborate to succeed on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive end PJ Myers ‘22 knows he’s gonna have to be just that, Myers is looking to make Hanford’s quarterback uncomfortable all night long by playing hard defense against him. Myers says, “The key to winning this upcoming game is forcing the quarterback to make a quick decision, and try to cause him to fold under pressure.”
It is going to be tough for the Rangers to stop Hanford’s offensive team, but if they can minimize their major plays that would be of great use to the boys.
Quarterback Frankie Alvarez ‘23 is coming into this game with an understanding of how good his opponent is, and how big of a win this would be for his team.
Alvarez says, “Hanford is an incredibly high-level team so if we can go out and get a win it would be incredible for us.”
Coming into this matchup wide receiver Ashton Ibarra ‘22 knows that Hanford has a very fast-paced offensive team, and he believes that to win The Rangers will have to match that pace. Ibarra says, “To beat Hanford we’re gonna need to play a fast pace game and be on top of our game.” Ibarra continues by saying his team also needs to limit mistakes on the offense and defensive end.
Running back Karson Everett ‘22 feels that for his team to get the win this Friday, executing their coaches’ game plan will be huge for the Rangers. Everett says, “We need to focus on the little things, and listen to our coaches in order to get the win.”
This is going to be the toughest team that The Rangers will compete against this season. Despite all of this, fullback Ty Potts ‘23 feels that his team is putting no added pressure on themselves.
Potts says, “This game is very important but we’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves. We’re gonna play to the best of our abilities and let the score take care of itself.”
Tyler Stark
Tyler Stark ('24) is in his freshmen year, and this is his first year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Tyler hopes to work for Sports Illustrated in the future. you can contact him by email with: tyler.st3800@vusd.us
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