CR offense ‘drastically’ better as season opener approaches

By Ray Hamill — A strong finish to last season showed us that College of the Redwoods football belonged in the more competitive National Division after making the switch from the American Division in 2025.

The question now as head coach Jason White and his players get set for next weekend’s season opener is whether they can build on that.

Early indications suggest they can.

On Tuesday, CR traveled to scrimmage against Southern Oregon, an NAIA program, and the players performed well, especially an offense that will feature a lot more experience this season.

“Compared to last year at this time we were definitely better offensively,” White said. “It was a drastic improvement.”

Last year, CR started nine freshmen on offense at one point, which in part explained the team’s 0-6 start to the campaign.

“I don’t care what level you’re playing at, that’s always a difficult situation,” White said.

The offense grew in stature as the season progressed and CR won three straight conference games late in the campaign to leave the team in contention for a conference crown going into the final week of action.

This year, White is hoping they can start faster, and having three returning starters on the offensive line, as well as two who were a part of the team, they should be better prepared to hit the ground running.

This year’s team also features a deep running back room, a group that includes former H-DNL standouts Kavi Bolden (Fortuna), Mako Limon (Fortuna) and Brycen Mismash (Eureka), all of whom should see time in the backfield.

“I really like Mako Limon and Kavi Bolden. They definitely bring speed to the position for sure,” said White, who added that Mismash has had a good camp.

“He has good vision and sees things pretty well,” the CR coach said of the former Eureka Logger.

Key to posting a fast start will be the play of freshman Kasen Covert, who has won the starting quarterback job for next week’s opener at San Jose.

Covert was a player White tried to recruit out of Sherwood High School in Oregon, before he opted to go to the University of Northern Colorado instead.

But this offseason Covert joined CR and a spring practicing with the team has paid dividends this summer.

“He’s a very athletic kid who will be our starter for game one,” the CR coach said. “He’s athletic, he throws a good ball and he’s got a lot of upside.”

Two former Ferndale Wildcats are also expected to play key roles with the team this fall.

After red-shirting last year, Henry Westfall will see time on a new-look defensive line that is replacing four starters from 2025.

“He’ll contribute for us on the D-line for sure,” White said of the 2024 Cats graduate who has gained 25 pounds. “He needed to put on some weight out of high school. He’s definitely ready at this point.”

His former Wildcats teammate, Tanner Pidgeon, also appears ready to play a key role this fall.

Pidgeon is making the switch from quarterback, a position he has played his whole life, but he has been a pleasant surprise this summer as a playmaker in a variety of different roles.

“Tanner’s had a good camp. He’s a football player is what he really is,” White said. “You could put him anywhere and I bet he’d be good at it.

“We’re going to make sure he’s involved in our offense in one way or the other. And he’s a great young man on top of that.”

Another former H-DNL player who has been turning heads this summer is Del Norte graduate Dane Brown, who has been impressing alongside Westfall on the defensive line, while Arcata’s Nate Stiles also will see plenty of action on the offensive line.

“Dane Brown’s been very active for us at D-tackle. He’s probably going to start and play quite a bit,” said White, who added of Stiles, “he’s been working out with us since the spring. He’s pretty smart and he’s picked up the offense pretty well.”

Ku’ron Devlin is another former HDN player who has impressed with the team this summer and the St. Bernard’s graduate is someone White believes will play a key role at defensive back.

“He’s very athletic,” the coach said, adding that he will be a part of the team’s rotation in the secondary.