On the night of September 9th, 2018, Redwood took another loss making their season record 3-0. Their competitor? The now 4-0 Tulare Western Mustangs. The game was played at Bob Mathias Stadium at Tulare Union High School where the score ended 38-20. 

Although Redwood was not able to pull off a win on the scoreboard, they still had great offense and defense helped especially towards the end of the game. Also, the Mustangs had an impressive offensive game which in the end, our very own Rangers were not able to stop. After two recent losses to Dinuba and Tulare Union, Redwood is desperately in search for a spark to ignite for the rest of the 2018 season.

End of Friday night’s loss to Tulare Western

Hoping to bounce back, Sam Olson, ’20, said, “We’ve been putting in a lot of work at practice by going over reads and just trying to eliminate a lot of the mental mistakes and we are gonna go out there and play hard and play for each other as a family.” Overall, the team wanted to go into this game mentally prepared and just do their own individual jobs which would lead to an overall team success.

Olson had a good game last Friday and was hoping to come out and lead the team this week. He told me his mindset going into the game was, “I’m just gonna play hard, do my job, and if the ball comes my way, then I’m gonna make a play.” Simple enough right? Against Tulare Western, senior captain, Alex Rivera, had a great game and described his overall job was, “to stay positive and do [his] job every play.”

Starting as a sophomore on varsity, Dominick McCormack was injured in the beginning of the game against Tulare Union but recovered fast enough to play and start in the game Friday night. He said “It’s pretty cool [to be a sophomore on varsity]…I love being a part of the team because we are a family, we are all brothers, and it’s cool that we hang out and practice and train together.” As you can tell they’re a pretty close knit team and are able to enjoy each other’s company on and off the field. 

“It feels great [to be a senior captain] and I know I have to make every game count and have fun because it’s my last year playing football.”

 -Alex Rivera, ’19

To start off the game, T Western kicks off to Redwood but a few plays later, Julian Sanchez, ’20, threw an interception to Edward Diaz (Mustangs). Diaz made a 48 yard return which led to Tariyn Johnson’s first touchdown of the game. Extra point was good and the score was then 7-0 with 9:21 left in the first. Struggling to maintain possession Sanchez had a keeper to gain a first down but TW gained the ball again. They achieve 1st down on the 16 which later turns into an 8 yard touchdown plus an extra point making the game now 14-0 with 5:30 left in the 1st.

After that, La Dre Aguilar, ’19, returned the punt with a 91 yard touchdown but unfortunately it got called back due to a penalty. This play showed potential and that they have energy, they just have to have the cracks. After a punt by Hunter Bryan, ’19, a 42 yard run for a touchdown by Johnson yet again plus another made field goal. Score was then 21-0 with 3:43 left of the 1st. Hand-offs, carries, and yards gained but no other action took place.

Starting off the 2nd, Mustangs gained the first down on the 20 then after a few more plays gained another 1st down. Then Johnson scored his third touchdown then plus the extra kick making score 28-0 with 7:25 left in the second. Redwood’s run was set up a few plays later when Gabe Vasquez, ’19, caught an interception to the 33 yard line. Ball is advanced 10 yards and Vasquez carries it for 6 more. After a few more start and stops, Sanchez throws a pass to Aguilar for a touchdown which ended the team’s scoreless half. Bryan’s field goal is good and the score was then 28-7 with 2:30 left in the half. No more action going into halftime.

Right off the bat, a long pass was made to Johnson after the punt which set up Mustangs in good scoring position. But the play stalls and Tulare Western’s Carlos Hernandez scores the 33 yard field goal making the score 31-7 with 8:55 left of the 3rd. Not much action takes place on either ends but then Redwood had another successful scoring drive by Vasquez but the kick was blocked ending the 3rd quarter, 31-13. 

Western’s Mikey Fisher came out gaining several yards the whole game and was able to gain 6 to make a 2nd down on the 27th. Johnson carried it to the 14th and was able to score again for his fourth and final touchdown of the night. with 8:45 left of the 4th, 38-13. Redwood receives ball and James Richardson, ’19, carried the ball for a first down on the 36. Julian connects with Malachi Aguilar, ’20, on a 60 yard pass for a touchdown with 6:18 left of the 4th. The kick was good and that concluded the points scored for both teams. Game ended 38-20. 

Although the Rangers had good momentum and energy towards the end of the game, it was just too late to play catch up. Personally, I think all our boys did their own jobs but in the end, Tulare Western just had better drives and stronger runs. Olson said on regards of the loss, “We came out flat…once we started playing, we were playing better than them but we were down by too much to make a comeback.” Rivera inputted his opinion by saying, “Our defense struggled for the first half of the game, then after we picked up the tempo and we started to come back.” Olson’s hopes moving forward include playing their best from the start and competing with any team for the entire game. 

The next games for Redwood is on Friday, September 14th against Atascadero who are also 0-3. This game is Redwood’s Homecoming for 2018 and expectations are high in hopes of pulling out a big win to break the team’s overall funk. Make sure to support and cheer on the boys this Friday and attend the game!

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