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College of the Redwoods enjoyed a breakthrough win on Saturday night, a victory that was a long time coming.

This past offseason, CR made the decision to move from the American Division to the more competitive National Division, but it’s been a tough start to the new era with six straight losses to begin the season.

On Saturday night, however, Redwoods traveled to Shasta and defeated the Knights 19-18 in thrilling fashion.

The visitors trailed 18-0 late in the third quarter, but rallied to score 19 unanswered points to take the win, with Devon Forehand scoring the game-winning TD on a quarterback sneak with just 23 seconds remaining.

“That was a gutty performance by the team,” head coach Jason White said. “When you’re down 18-0 and able to come back, it just shows that our team hasn’t given up.”

The late comeback almost never materialized.

Trailing 18-13 with a little over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the players misinterpreted a call from the sideline and incorrectly thought the coaches had called for a fake punt deep in their own territory.

They failed to convert and gave Shasta an excellent opportunity to put the game away.

But the Redwoods defense, which was coming off arguably its worst performance of the season in a loss at Sierra last week, stepped up big time and held the Knights to a field goal attempt, which they missed.

The visitors then drove 79 yards on seven plays for the winning score.

“Our defense really got things turned around tonight,” White said. “They played really well.”

A late interception by Ja’Ere Alexander also helped turn the tide.

“We had some turnovers in the last part of the second half,” White said. “They are the things you need when you’re down 18-0.”

The National Division win is the program’s first in well over two decades, and White believes the last one came all the way back in 2002.

Forehand completed 26-of-45 passes for 288 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, while also leading a struggling ground attack with 58 yards on nine carries.

“Shasta, I thought defensively they played way better than we saw on film, especially up front,” the CR coach added. “We struggled trying to run the ball.”

CR managed just 89 yards on the ground, compared to the home team’s 199 yards.

The Knights were led by former St. Bernard’s standout Wyatt Simoni, who finished with 91 yards on 24 carries.

That helped the Knights get off to a fast start as they looked for a first win this year.

They led 12-0 at halftime and would add a third TD midway through the third quarter to take control.

But the visitors refused to throw in the towel and would answer the call emphatically down the stretch.

“I think the big reason we won that game is that we were disciplined,” White said. “(The players) had composure for the whole game and overcame adversity.”

Forehand connected with receiver Darron Dodd on a 27-yard TD pass for CR’s opening score of the game with just 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.

The visitors would carry that momentum into the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to five points on a five-yard TD run by Aaron Clifton two minutes into the final period to give them a fighting chance down the stretch.

With the win, CR improved to 1-1 in conference and 1-6 on the season, while Shasta dropped to 0-2 and 0-7.