Redwood Tackle Football Bounces Back From Two-Game Skid With 49-34 Victory Over Golden West

On Friday, October 23rd, Ranger tackle football snapped their two-game skid with a 49-34 victory over Golden West, improving to 7-2.

By Fabian Anguiano

With the cold fall breeze filling the Mineral King Bowl and the cheers from both sides of the bowl, the Rangers kicked off to the Blazers.

Quarter by Quarter Analysis

First Quarter

The Blazers would return the ball all the way up near the forty-yard line, giving good field position to quarterback Jayden Najera ‘27 and the offense.

Najera would start out of the shotgun and would find wide receiver Kolton Kill ‘27, for a big gain, getting all he way to the Rangers’ 40-yard line.

The very next play, Najera would start from the shotgun once again and would thread the needle on a corner route to wide receiver Connor Cain ‘27, for a touchdown. The Rangers would block the extra point, making the Blazers’ early lead 6-0.

After returner Andre Ceballos ‘27, returned the kickoff just past the 40, the Rangers would go on offense for the first time.

The Rangers would start off with three consecutive carries to running back Qur’An Goodman ‘29, which would lead to the Rangers being inside the Blazers’ 40.

Quarterback Nash McElree ‘27,’s first pass of the night would be to wide receiver Ollie Richardson ‘27, for a first down after Richardson’s yards after contact.

On the very next play, McElree would sling the ball to a wide-open Jarius Brooks ‘28, for a touchdown. Kicker Josagar Guerrero ‘27, nailed the extra point, giving the Rangers the lead 7-6.

The Blazers would get the ball back and would not find much success as the Rangers’ defensive front would cause relentless pressure, forcing two straight sacks; the Blazers would punt, which would involve a Ranger getting their hand on it, resulting in the ball going out of bounds on the Blazers’ own 40 after a return by Ceballos.

The Rangers’ drive would begin with two consecutive screens thrown, with two of them going to end tight end Exavier Jackson ‘30, and Brooks would get the Rangers to the 25.

After a run by McElree would get the Rangers inside the 10, McElree would hand off to running back Chase Luna ‘27, who would plow through the defense for six; the drilled extra point extended the Rangers’ lead to 14-6.

The Blazers would hop back on offense and would seem to get a rhythm going after a nice downfield pass, but the drive would get disrupted on third down when Najera was pressured out of bounds at the line of scrimmage, forcing the Blazers to punt once again

The Rangers would get the ball back; after a supposed-to-be end-around was fumbled and recovered by Brooks out of bounds at the line of scrimmage, the offense would go uphill from there.

The offensive line would open a hole for Goodman, which would result in a solid eight yards gained, which would conclude the first quarter.

Second Quarter

The Rangers would keep the drive moving in rhythm with two straight first-down passes. Goodman would find another gap, getting the Rangers inside the five, but it was ultimately called back due to a holding call.

Now from the 30, McElree would sling the ball down the middle, which would get deflected and caught by Brooks at the 12, preventing a possible interception.

McElree would then keep it himself and would run out of bounds, evading a defender at the five-yard line. After a short run by Luna, McElree would then hand the ball off to none other than Goodman for a rushing touchdown; the made PAT would extend the Rangers’ lead to 21-6.

Najera and the Blazer offense would begin at the 35 after a touchback, and Najera would begin with a QB carry to pick up 10 yards and a first down.

The offense would just continue to shine as Najera would float a moonball down the field to Cain for a big gain all the way to the Rangers’ 16-yard line. 

Najera on the very next play would evade multiple defensive linemen to roll out to his right and find a wide-open Cain once again, who would blaze past defenders for his second touchdown of the half. The Blazers would attempt a two-point conversion to make it a seven-point game, but running back EJ Avalos ‘28, would get stuffed; the score would be 21-12.

On the Blazers’ kickoff, they would attempt to catch the Rangers offside with an onside kick, but a Ranger defender was at the right place at the right time and would recover the ball at the 48-yard line.

The Rangers would begin their drive with good rhythm; McElree would get a short gain of three, then Goodman would come in handy once again, finding a hole for a gain of about 13 yards into Blazer territory.

The Blazer defense would start to catch on to the offense as they would stuff running back Adrian Melgar ‘27, at the line, and they would proceed to get to Ceballos quickly on a screen.

The Rangers would catch rhythm back with a 14-yard gain thrown to wide receiver Steven Malarejo ‘30, with the Rangers facing third down, McElree would decide to keep it himself, finding the gap and finding space to rumble past defenders all the way to the Blazer five-yard line.

Another run by McElree would get the Rangers all the way to the one-yard line; McElree would sneak his way into the endzone for six, and the extra point would make the score 28-12.

That would be it for the scoring in the first half.

Third Quarter

The Rangers’ first drive of the second half would begin at their own 30-yard line, and they would begin with two straight runs by Goodman, which would get the Rangers right at midfield in just those two carries.

The next handoff would go to Luna, who would drag and plow through defenders all the way to the Blazers’ 30-yard line.

After another carry by Luna was stopped at the line of scrimmage, and a screen caught by Brooks would gain about five yards, the Rangers would find themselves in a fourth-and-three situation.

On fourth down, McElree would attempt to throw on a corner route on the left side of the field, but the pass would fall incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.

With the Blazers now having possession, Najera would fake a handoff and would find a gaping hole right down the middle of the Ranger defense, getting all the way to the Ranger 15-yard line.

After a few short pass plays and quarterback options, Najera would roll out to his right and find wide receiver Edgar Luna ‘27, wide open for a touchdown. The Blazers would attempt a two-point conversion with what looked like what was supposed to be a trick play involving Cain throwing, but Cain would keep it himself and would run in for two, making it 28-20.

With the game being only within one score, the Blazers would take a gamble and attempt an onside kick once again, and the Blazers would recover the ball at the Rangers’ 45-yard line, shifting momentum.

After a few short pass plays, the Rangers would get to the ball quickly off a screen pass thrown to Luna, casing a third down for the Blazers.

On third down, Najera would evade defenders and would roll out to his right, picking up the first down with his legs at the Rangers’ 23-yard line.

After a short pass play to wide receiver Matthew Garcia ‘27, Najera would roll out to his right once again and would float the ball perfectly over a Ranger defender to Avalos at the five-yard line.

After Najera got stopped at the goal line on a QB carry, he would do the exact same thing and walked into the endzone for six. The Blazers got the two-point conversion with Najera finding Cain in the middle of the endzone; the game was now tied 28-28.

The Rangers started the drive at the Blazers’ 45-yard line thanks to a solid return by Brooks. The Blazer defense would be a disruption as they stuffed Goodman at the line of scrimmage, and the defensive line batted down a pass.

With a crucial third-down, McElree in the shotgun would set his sights downfield and found a wide-open Jackson for a big gain all the way to the Blazer 20.

This would conclude the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

With great field position, the Rangers would take advantage as Goodman would run right through the defense and into the endzone for the touchdown; the extra point was made, and the score was now 35-28 with the Rangers on top.

Najera would continue to showcase his agility once again, completing multiple big-gain passes on the run to Luna, which would get them to the Ranger 35. They would cap off the drive with Najera dropping back and threading the needle once again to Cain for his third touchdown of the game; the Blazers would go for two, and the Ranger defensive line would get to Najera. The Rangers would stay in the lead, 35-34.

With the game being within one point, the Rangers wasted no time extending their lead as Goodman would take a handoff for a 65-yard house call; the extra point would be drilled, making the score 42-34.

With the Blazers down by eight, their aspirations of tying the game were cut short when the Rangers sacked Najera, forcing a punt with about seven minutes left in the game.

The Rangers would start their possession at the Blazers’ 30, and would waste no time with first-down runs done by both Goodman and McElree. McElree would cap off the drive with his second rushing touchdown of the game being pushed in by the offensive line, the extra point would extend the Rangers lead to 49-34 with less than three minutes left in the game.

Down two possessions, the Trailblazers would get to work quickly, with Najera completing big passes to numerous receivers thanks to their yards after contact, getting themselves all the way to the Rangers’ 32; the Blazers would gain an additional 15 after a facemask committed by a Ranger defender. 

After a couple of short passes, the Blazers were now at the five-yard line; Najera would get pressured out of the pocket and fumble the ball on the way down. Linebacker Abram Feldstein ‘27, would recover the ball and would take it all the way to the Blazer 11-yard line icing the game.

Player Spotlight

Offense: Running back Qur’An Goodman ‘29, had a busy night with 19 total carries for 190 yards and three touchdowns.

Goodman prepares himself to be as busy as he was against Golden West by taking all of his reps seriously.

What Goodman believes he did best against the Bazers was finding the holes; Goodman could have done better by following his blocks.

Goodman has 734 rushing yards on the season for six touchdowns; he is averaging 8.3 yards per rush.

Defense: Defensive tackle Yain Garcia-Cervantez racked up two and a half sacks in the Rangers victory.

Cervantez believes that the two straight losses the Rangers suffered only made the team more hungry.

On what he believes he did best as a player, Cervantez said, “I really came up composed; I didn’t put my head down, I played 100% no matter what happened.”

There are a lot of things Cervantez believes he could have done better, though he believes the outcome comes to the whole team, not just himself.

Cervantez believes the defense could have done better at keeping the outside contained and keeping everything more controlled overall rather than just going wherever.

The Rangers next game will be the 71st annual Cowhide at the Mineral King Bowl against the Maroon School with kickoff being at 6:30 pm.

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