Freshman quarterback Kasen Covert continued to impress for College of the Redwoods on Saturday, throwing for three touchdowns in a 31-23 win over Reedley College.
Playing their home opener at the Redwood Bowl, CR improved to 2-0 with the win, although it was far from a clean performance.
Redwoods was penalized 93 yards on 11 calls.
“You know, we played well for the most part,” CR head coach Jason White said. “But we had too many penalties. That’s what stopped most of our drives, and on defense that’s kind of what kept their drives alive.”
Despite that, however, the CR players did enough to get the win and keep their unbeaten start to the new season going.
And Covert played a big part in that, as did the team’s defensive backs.
The starting quarterback completed 16 of 23 passes for 255 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. In his first two starts with the team, the Oregon native has thrown for five TDs and one interception.
He also rushed for a team-high 50 yards on nine carries.
But it was the defense that opened the scoring against Reedley, when Ja’Ere Alexander intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards for a TD just two minutes into the game.
The visitors would respond well and tied the game midway through the opening quarter when quarterback Conner Wilson connected with Andrew Gergley on a nine-yard TD pass.
A back-and-forth first quarter continued a few minutes later when Covert threw his first TD pass of the day, connecting with Mataio Olomua on a 30-yard score.
Redwood added to the advantage on a 26-yard Brandon Sailer field goal midway through the second quarter, but the visitors would have the final say of the first half when Brilison McCullers ran in for a three-yard TD to leave just four points (17-13) between the teams at the half.
Covert would add two more TD passes in the second half, one each to Romyl Luster and Quinton Buckland, as the home team stretched the lead to 31-16, before Reedley made for an exciting finish, pulling within one score with another TD with six minutes remaining.
But an experienced CR team was able to hold on down the stretch, with a late interception by Chaz Scott Jr., helping to seal the win.
“We got the win,” White said. “There were a lot of big plays in the game, I’ll say that. Our kids were physical. There were a lot of big hits in the game and that was fun to see, and the physicality of our running backs was a definite positive.”
CR ran for 128 yards on 26 carries, with running backs Olomua (44 yards on 11 carries) and Aaron Clifton (33 yards on five carries) each making their presence felt.
Uriah Carslon led the CR receivers with 84 yards on six catches, with Tre Silva (44 yards on two receptions), Olomua (39 on two), Clifton (36 on two), and Luster (31 on three) all contributing.
Defensively, Isaiah Hill led CR with five solo tackles, while Kyrin Fuimaona had five total tackles.
Redwoods is now one of three NorCal Conference teams with two wins in their first two games, along with Butte and Diablo Valley.
Next up, CR travels to play Sacramento City on Saturday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
