Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — A rollercoaster of a season came to an end for College of the Redwoods on Saturday, as the local community college program saw a golden opportunity of winning a conference title slip away.

The fact that head coach Jason White and his players even had a chance to claim a conference crown on the final day of the season was an achievement in itself after an 0-6 start to the campaign.

But they’ll head into the offseason feeling that they let this one slip away.

Riding a three-game winning streak, CR entertained American River at the Redwood Bowl, knowing a win would give them a shot at claiming the National NorCal Conference championship, if Butte also beat Sierra on Saturday.

Late in the third quarter, word filtered through that Butte had indeed won its game, and the Redwoods players and fans all knew a victory would secure the title and a playoff berth.

Mistakes, however, would prove costly and derail any shot at the title, especially on special teams, where the home team missed two PATs and had a field goal attempt blocked.

And that resulted in a 27-15 loss.

“We had opportunities, and we just didn’t connect, honestly,” White said. “They had a good game plan. They did a good job containing (CR quarterback) Devon (Forehand).

“And we had too many miscommunications in our passing game, and special teams was not good.

“We just didn’t play the way we’ve played the last couple of weeks.”

The visitors started strong and scored on their opening drive of the afternoon to take a lead they would not relinquish, as the hosts trailed for almost the entire game.

Trailing 15-0, Redwoods got on the board in the second quarter, with Forehand scoring on a quarterback draw from about 20 yards out.

A missed PAT left CR trailing 6-15.

The home team would add to its tally just before halftime on a Brandon Sailer field goal, but a safety early in the second half put the Beavers up 17-9.

They would add another touchdown later in the quarter to stretch the advantage, before a Saul Reyes TD reception for CR made it 24-15.

That, however, was the last of the scoring for Redwoods, which had a fourth-quarter field goal blocked to leave it a two-score game.

The visitors would add a field goal to close out the scoring with 5:14 on the clock and they were able to hold on down the stretch.

Still, despite the disappointing ending to the campaign, there were several bright spots this year for a program that switched from the American Division to the more competitive National Division.

If nothing else, Redwoods proved it can compete with some of the big guns in the National Division.

“I felt like we competed all season long,” White said. “We had a three-game winning streak, we beat the No. 3 team in the state, and I thought those are all good steps.

“I felt we made some steps in the right direction, and we can build on that for next year.”

CR closed out 3-2 in conference and 3-7 overall.

But with a young team — a team that started eight freshmen on offense for three straight weeks at one stage — the players should be better prepared for next season and more competitive.

And the preparation for next year has already begun.

“We’ve got some things to build on for next year,” White said. “First, we’ve got to get the sophomores moved on and then start the recruiting process.

“We’re going to miss the sophomores. Every year you wish you had them for one more year, but it’s time for these guys to move on and we wish them nothing but the best.”