Redwood Football is Back

Ranger Football is officially back! After a dreadful year away from the gridiron, Redwood football is making its return this Friday at Centennial High School.

The opponent for the Rangers in their return to action is a very dangerous one.

Despite the modest 2-3 record, the Golden Hawks are a member of the first division of CIF football, meaning this is a step up in competition for the division 2 Rangers.

In addition to being in a higher division than the Rangers, the Hawks are also led by dangerous quarterback Levi Manning.

Tight end Kolby Howard ‘22 is well aware of the challenge this Golden Hawks team presents. Howard feels that to get the job done on Friday night mistakes have to be pretty much nonexistent.

Howard says “Our keys to victory will be executing every play to perfection.”

Head coach Kevin Scharton feels the keys to victory for this game will be playing well on both sides of the ball. Scharton says “some keys to victory is to play solid defense and put together offensive drives that are productive and result in points.”

While this is somewhat of a return to normal for Ranger football there are still limited crowds. Right now players are only allowed to bring 6 family members to the game, fans that are not related to a player are not allowed in the stadium.

This of course means that players will be without the electric atmosphere many of them have been accustomed to playing in front of.

Linebacker/fullback Marcus Correia ‘22 is very sad that there will not be packed houses this year, but he is happy to have his family in attendance.

Correia says “It’s very sad that can’t we play in a crowd like we used to. I’m glad we are able to have family there with us in the bowl though.”

When looking at the major storylines for this season, the lack of a crowd is definitely one of the most intriguing. It’s going to be fascinating to see if that stays implemented for the whole season.

The Rangers are now at a point where they know each other well, and this group of guys have reached a point where they truly believe there’s something special brewing.

Running back Karson Everett ‘22 believes this team has a lot of potential. Everett says “I think this group has something special, we have so many talented guys.”

Everett goes on to say, “can’t wait to see where this team goes this season.”

Obviously, last year took opportunities away from everyone. It is because of this that B.J Wainwright ‘24 finds himself in an exciting, but admittedly nerve-wracking position.

Friday will not only be Wainwright’s first varsity game, it’ll be his first high school football game.  

Wainwright says “I’m going to feel excited but also nervous. I have never played a snap in highschool football, nevermind varsity football. I’ve only played a year of pop-warner.”

Wainwright later goes on to say he’s thrilled to have this opportunity and can’t wait to play.    

Every football team has an identity, and receiver Ashton Ibarra ‘22 feels that this year’s team is a gritty group, with a lot of hustle.

Ibarra says “This year’s team may not have size compared to our 2019 team but where we lack in size we make up for in speed and hustle.”

This year the Rangers have a new face at quarterback. Frankie Alvarez ‘23  is looking to make a splash in his first year as starting QB. Similar to a lot of other young men, football runs in Frankie Alvarez’s blood.

 Throughout Alvarez’s entire childhood he saw his 3 brothers play, he’s been waiting for his chance to shine for a long time.

Now it’s here, and Alvarez is ready to make his mark.

Alvarez says “My whole life I’ve been watching my older brothers play and I couldn’t wait to get my chance like they did and it’s finally here.”

Alvarez also says, “I would say this is one of the biggest milestones of my life.”

Everyone on this squad knows that this team can achieve great heights this year, but they also know that it all starts with getting a win against Centennial on Friday. Alex Perch ‘24 says that his main goal this week is to just get the win.

Perch says “Centennial is a really tough team and I want to go out there and put up a fight, give them everything we’ve got. Ultimately I’d like to come out on top.”

The game will begin at 7:30 Friday Night. Fans can watch the game via the kern network broadcast, which is going to be broadcasted live on kernhighnetwork.com.  

Tags: redwood football, redwood high school, redwood rangers, redwood sports