Redwood starts League 0-1 following loss to Lemoore

Redwood came into this game, coming off of a 20-18 win over Kingsburg one week prior. And although they had a good start early on, they fell short to Lemoore with a final score of 21-14 last Friday.

The game started off with Lemoore taking the kickoff from their own 10-yard line all the way to the 45-yard line.

After a few plays, Lemoore was able to pick up a first down, but it didn’t amount to much, as the Tigers would fail to convert on the 3rd down.

Lemoore then elected to go for a 4th down conversion on a 4th and 9.

Quarterback, Ty Chambers, ’23 would get sacked by Redwood’s defense, turning over the ball on downs to Redwood with just a little over nine minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Redwood wouldn’t do anything with this drive, as they would give it right back to Lemoore on a 3-and-out.

Lemoore would get the ball on their own 36-yard line. They would get a first down, but it was negated by a flag on the play that sent them back. They wouldn’t score with their drive, punting it right back to Redwood.

Redwood received the punt on their own 29-yard line. Then the offense got to work.

Ranger running back, Alex Perch, ’24 started the drive with a 2-yard run to the left side. Perch got the start over Karson Everett, ’22, who was listed as questionable.

Perch followed up that run with an 8-yard run to give Redwood a first down.

A 5-yard run by Ty Potts, ’23 would set up a 6-yard run by Perch for another Redwood first down. Several runs by Perch and more Redwood first downs later, quarterback, Francisco Alvarez, ’23 would connect with receiver, Ashton Ibarra, ’22 for a 19-yard first down as the first quarter came to a close.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 0-0.

Redwood started on the 16-yard line to begin the second quarter. After a short run of two yards on 3rd and 8, Alvarez lobbed it up to tight end, Kolby Howard, ’22 in the end zone to give Redwood the first touchdown of the game.

This was followed by a successful extra point attempt to make the score 7-0, Redwood. There was now 11:04 minutes remaining in the first half.

Lemoore used a ton of run plays to start their drive. Then, when they got to the 50, Chambers fired it to Tigers receiver, Demel Turner, ’23 for a 5-yard first down.

After this, Lemoore used a play-action pass to throw off Redwood’s defense. It was thrown into double-coverage, and was swatted away.

After that, Chambers was able to get some nice separation, and ran the ball in for a 10-yard first down. This got them to the 28. After a few run plays later, Lemoore was able to run the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown to make it a 7-6 game. The extra point that followed tied it at 7.

Not much would happen on this drive, but when Redwood got to the 27, Alvarez connected with Ibarra for a 27-yard passing touchdown to give Redwood the lead, once again.

The extra point attempt was successful, to make it a 14-7 Ranger lead.

That would be it for the first half, as the score was 14-7 Redwood, going into the second half.

Not much would happen in the third quarter, but halfway through, Noe Viveros, ’23 intercepted a pass from Lemoore, taking it 20 yards to the 34-yard line.

Two plays later, Alvarez would throw an interception to Tigers safety, Demel Turner, who would take it all the way to the end zone for a 74-yard pick-6 to make it a 14-13 score.

It was followed by a successful extra point attempt to make it a 14- point tie.

Redwood wouldn’t do much with this opportunity, as they would punt it right back to Lemoore.

On their own 17, Chambers thew a short pass to running back, Cory Whitmore, ’22, who brought it to the end zone for an 83-yard touchdown pass.

This gave Lemoore their first and last lead of the game, a 20-14 lead, which would be followed by a successful extra point attempt to make it a 21-14 lead for Lemoore.

Redwood would punt it right back to Lemoore.

Rangers would head into the fourth quarter with a 21-14 lead for Lemoore.

Lemoore would take it all the way to the goal line, but the running back lost control of the football, and it was scooped up by Michael Hutchings, ’22 with six minutes remaining.

Reviewing the game, Ranger receiver, Ibarra said, “Something I can take away from this game would be to not give up when the game isn’t over.”

That was it for the scoring though, Redwood would get a promising drive started, but ran out of time.

Ibarra adds, “Something our team can work on moving forward from the game, would be executing and getting things done even when some of our key players are out.”

This loss was frustrating, but now Redwood will travel to Golden West Friday, October 8. All one can do, is hope that they can get the job done, despite the way the season has gone.

Tags: football, redwood football, rhs football, rhs sports, sports