Redwood’s fruitful season ends in quarterfinal loss

By: Krissy Hetherington

After a successful turn-around season, Redwood finished their season with a 21-28 loss against St. Joseph from Santa Maria in the DII Central Section Quarterfinals

Despite the hard-fought loss on Friday, Redwood still changed the future of Ranger football as “the season people will be talking about for years,” said Kevin Scharton to the team. First year coach, Scharton lead the team to a 10-2 season after finishing 4-7 in 2018.

Prior to this game, Redwood had scored nearly twice as many points as they had given up. The team averaged 21 points per game and won eight total games with 30 points or more.

Redwood accumulated many accolades during this season: breaking Tulare Union 29-game winning streak, winning Redwood’s first playoff game since 2014, finishing with a 10 game winning season for the first time since 1998 and bringing back the Cowhide.

“The biggest lesson learned was battling through adversity…A lot of people doubted our team early in the season and we proved to everyone, especially ourselves that we were capable of a lot more than many people thought.”

Ryan Rios, ’20, Quarterback

Play by play

Redwood had the ball at the start, but weren’t able to capitalize on a few deep throws and finish on an interception by Quinton Johnson. St. Joseph’s defense held Redwood from advancing past the 45-yard line and forced the team to punt. 

A few plays later, St. Joseph’s Hunter Barnhart connected with Mark Crisp on an 8-yard pass to the right corner of the end zone. The play ended the quarter as the Knights had a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, after a long pass then a 7-yard run by Devin Guggia, St. Joseph extended their lead to 14-0 but Redwood countered this with a quick touchdown to end the half.

With 23 seconds left in the half, Ryan Rios found Christian Roldan for a 6-yard touchdown pass to close the gap and spark new energy going into the locker room. 

Halfway through the third quarter, St. Joseph acted first with a short 2-yard rush by Guggia following a 27-yard run for the Knights.

Both team’s defenses stepped up and held each other from scoring the rest of the quarter and most of the fourth. 

Attempting to run the clock out, St. Joseph slowly but surely found the end zone again for the last time as Guggia rushed for a 2-yard touchdown.

Down 21-7 with about three minutes left, Redwood still wasn’t done. After a handoff from a screen pass, Davis capped off the next possession with a 40-yard touchdown run.

The Rangers’ defense shut down St. Joseph as Mitchell Wilson and Hudson Walker deflected the punt. Gage Walker was able to recover the ball on the 3-yard line followed by Caden Shafer’s final rush into the end zone with 1:48 left of the game.

Now 21-28, St. Joseph received the ball back and wasted the time to end the game crushing Redwood’s comeback attempt.

“One thing I love about this team is that they never give up, they keep fighting, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Sharton said. “I’m really proud that they stayed in the game and were still able to make some big plays.”

Offensive standouts

Many receivers and running backs found success offensively through senior quarterback Ryan Rios. Rios topped out with 1,742 total yards across 20 touchdowns.

“Of my accomplishments, I’m most proud of the way the team and I have improved each day from the beginning of the year on,” Rios said.“Taking steps forward and staying focused on the next game really helped me continue to learn and grow as a football player.”

Captain and tight end, Sam Olson closed his senior season with 35 catches for 580 yards and 11 touchdowns. One of his favorite plays was his 75-yard touchdown off a bubble screen against Tulare Union where he showcased his speed and agility.

First year varsity, wide receiver Christian Roldan closed his junior year with 3 touchdowns as he proved his speed and stepped up for injured players towards the end of the season. One of his most memorable plays was his 60-yard touchdown in the 65th annual Cowhide Rivalry game. 

“I learned the aspects of how a winning team should operate…Scharton came in here and changed the whole culture for Redwood Football going forward,” Roldan said. “Scharton brought coaches in that could connect with players which allowed us all to actually enjoy practices and enjoy the bonds we formed.”

Caden Shafer, a junior and starting running back, totaled over 700 yards rushing for seven touchdowns.

“This year we played more as a whole, we built our offense and defense around the whole team, not just one specific player, when you play as a whole, you have way more fun and make the game 10 times more enjoyable.”

Caden Shafer, ’21, Running back

Brian Brown, a senior wide receiver, finished the season with 7 touchdowns and many memories he’ll carry with him past this experience.

“[Coach Scharton] has done a great job adapting to the school and players and learning how to work with them and using them for what works best for the team,” said Brown.

Defensive mentions

Defensive end, sophomore Marcus Correia led Redwood on the other end of the ball with 82 total tackles, 64 solo tackles, 18 assisted and two interceptions. He had one pick six, one forced fumble, averaged 6.8 tackles a game and found the end zone three different times.

“My biggest lesson from this season was to trust the people that are around you and support you,” Correia said. “We understood what kinda coaching staff we had and we all just wanted to work extra hard and put in those hours to see our outcome each Friday night.”

Dominick McCormack also added to Rangers defense with 50 tackles and 5 interceptions.

Following behind him was senior corner back Quinton Johnson, who ended his season with 22 total tackles, three interceptions, and nine pass deflections. 

“My biggest takeaway from this season is how everything you do has to be done with passion and determination, like coach always said to us, ‘once your heart and mind become one you can accomplish anything you desire.’”

Quinton Johnson, ’20, Corner back

“This year and this programs rebirth would have not been possible if it wasn’t for him and his amazing staff,” Johnson said of Scharton.

On behalf of his first season, Scharton was most proud of the family he built within the program, which is something he plans to take into the future of Redwood football.

“I’m proud of the way we came out every Friday night and played our hearts out until the end,” Scharton said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more from this bunch of guys.”