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As College of the Redwoods head coach Jason White said on Saturday evening, you’d never know his team was 0-6 three weeks ago after a game like that.

Redwoods continued its late-season surge with a third straight win on Saturday, traveling to Butte and knocking off the No. 3 team in the state 22-21.

Two of those three wins have come by the narrowest of margins, and for the second time in three weeks, CR rallied late to score the winning touchdown in the final minute of the game.

It was also CR’s first win over Butte since 1990, when White was still a player with the team and Larry Allen was playing for Butte.

The victory not only continues the team’s late-season surge, but it gives CR a shot at clinching the National NorCal Conference title next week in the program’s first season back competing in the National Division.

Going into the final weekend of the regular season, four teams — Redwoods (3-6 overall), Butte (7-2), Sierra (4-5) and American River (3-6) — are tied for the conference lead with identical 3-1 records.

Redwoods will host American River at the Redwood Bowl next Saturday, and a win, coupled with a Butte win over Sierra, would give CR the tiebreaker and a conference title, which would see White and his players advance to the six-team NorCal playoffs.

“All we can control is whether we win or not,” White said.

Saturday’s kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

The turnaround from an 0-6 start has been impressive, with a number of factors playing a role, as the team posted back-to-back-to-back wins over Shasta, Santa Rosa and Butte.

“No. 1, we’re young, so it took us a little while longer,” White explained. “No. 2, making Devon Forehand our quarterback. He’s a dynamic player … And No. 3, defensively we got out of our three-man front and went to a four-man front.

“I think the experience and those two changes on offense and defense made a big difference.”

Forehand had another good game on Saturday and made some key plays with his arm and his feet.

He completed 16 of 26 passes for 201 yards, a TD and no interceptions, and also had a long run to help set up the come-from-behind winning score — a QB sneak — with just 44 seconds remaining.

“We did a good job managing the clock, I feel, at the end,” White said.

Each team had just three long second-half possessions and the visitors made them count with scores on all three drives.

CR kicker Brandon Sailer had a career day, nailing all three of his field goal attempts.

He made a 23-yarder as time expired in the second quarter, shortly after Butte missed a field goal attempt because of a high snap at the other end of the field, resulting in a six-point swing to close out the first half.

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That put CR up 10-7 at the break.

Sailer would add a 36-yard field goal to cap a long drive on CR’s first possession of the second half to stretch the advantage to six, and after Butte had taken a 14-13 lead on a one-yard Niall Raby TD run, Sailer gave CR the lead again on a 30-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to cap CR’s second possession of the half.

Once again, however, Butte would respond and re-took the lead on a 10-yard Amare Cooper TD run with just five minutes remaining, before Forehand’s late touchdown sealed the deal.

Butte started strong and scored on its second possession of the game on a 73-yard TD pass from Cooper to Najee Dade.

“After that we kind of settled down (on defense),” White said.

Christian Solomana led CR in tackles again with eight (seven solo) as he continues his impressive season.

“He was lights out,” White said. “He was all over the field.” 

Isaia Tagaloa also had a big interception to help swing the momentum towards CR.

“They came up big when we needed it,” White said of the standout duo.

Running back Alec Grant also had a good game for the visitors, finishing with 89 yards rushing on 29 carries in “his best game of the year running the ball,” according to White.

The Roadrunners defense came into the game allowing just 84 yards a game on the ground.

Former Del Norte Warrior Kai Baugh had three tackles in the loss.

“I felt good about how we ran the ball,” White said. “Our offensive line really stepped up against a really good defense. It was just a total team effort.”

After Butte scored early in the game, Redwoods tied the game on a 20-yard TD pass from Forehand to Quinton Buckland three minutes into the second quarter.

The strong team culture White and his staff have built also has played a role in the late-season turnaround, and the players never lost faith despite the team’s struggles.

“We never felt like we lost any of our players,” White said.