By Ray Hamill — For the second straight weekend, College of the Redwoods battled back from a 10-point deficit on the way to victory.
On Saturday afternoon, CR hosted Foothill at the Redwood Bowl, overcoming a largely sloppy first half with a dominating second half and pulling out a 24-17 victory to go to 4-0.
The visitors, who sacked CR quarterback Kasen Covert seven times, scored all 17 of their points in the second quarter and carried a 10-point advantage into the break.
But the third and fourth quarters belonged to the home team — with the help of some timely and very costly penalties by an undisciplined Owls team — and Redwoods held the visitors scoreless after the break, while putting up 17 unanswered points.
While the CR offense struggled to find much of a rhythm early in the afternoon, the unit would grow into the game and began to establish its superiority after prioritizing the run game in the second half.
The CR defense, meanwhile, held the Owls in check for much of the afternoon, with both of their touchdowns coming on short drives.
“It wasn’t pretty in the first half, I can tell you that,” CR head coach Jason White said. “But defensively I thought we played well the whole game, with the exception of a couple of series in the first half. They’re the reason we won the game.”
Neither offense did much in the first quarter with five straight three-and-outs to begin the game and only one first down combined for the opening period.
Redwoods would break the deadlock early in the second, driving 82 yards and scoring on a two-yard Aaron Clifton TD run early in the second.
That score was set up on a 46-yard pass from Covert to Tre Silva on a flea flicker to give CR possession at the Foothill three.
Check out all three of CR’s touchdowns above …
The rest of the quarter, however, belonged to the visitors, who tied the game on the ensuing possession on a 13-yard TD pass from quarterback Esean Johnson to Kimani Dokes after a long kickoff return by Jeremiah Karongo.
The momentum would remain with the Owls when Trisshon White intercepted a Covert pass at the CR 33 just three plays later, and they would add to their tally when Elijah Smith found the end zone from two yards out with 6:17 remaining in the half.
CR was unable to respond on the next possession and the Owls would stretch the advantage to 10 on a 48-yard field goal in the final minute of the half.
CR, however, would make the better adjustments at halftime and prioritized the running game to set up the passing attack in the second half.
And that, coupled with the defense’s ever-growing influence on the game, would make a big difference.
After a missed field goal attempt on the team’s opening possession of the second half, CR pieced together three consecutive scoring drives to take control of the game.
Brandon Sailer pulled the home team within seven on a 38-yard field goal with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter, a score that was set up on a Caleb Morgan interception that gave CR possession at the Foothill 18-yard line.
“That really was a big momentum changer for us,” White said of the pick.
CR would then tie things early in the fourth when Tanner Pidgeon pulled in a four-yard TD catch from Covert less than three minutes into the period.
This is the second straight weekend the former Ferndale Wildcat and Little 4 MVP has found the end zone, and the key play on the drive was a 57-yard pass from Covert to Romyl Luster, who led the home team in receiving yards with 83 on three catches.
The CR defense followed that with a big stand on Foothill’s ensuing possession, forcing a quick three-and-out, the unit’s first since the opening quarter.
The CR offense went right back to work, marching 62 yards on six plays with the help of an offside penalty by the visitors on a fourth-and-four.
Mataio Olomua closed out the scoring with just under eight minutes remaining in the game, running in for a five-yard TD to give CR its first lead since early in the second quarter.
The big play on that drive — along with the offside penalty — was a 42-yard pass from Covert to Quinton Buckland.
The game, however, remained in the balance.
But the Owls, who managed just four first downs for the second half, were forced to punt again just five plays into their next drive and CR took over with 5:16 remaining.
The Owls would not see the ball again, as the CR offense pieced together a long, time-consuming drive that ended with a game-clinching knee at the Foothill two.
The owls, who were called for 125 yards on 14 penalties, had two big calls go against them on that final dive, the first on a late hit out-of-bounds and the second on a roughing the kicker call after they had forced a punt.
The seven sacks CR gave up were not entirely the fault of the offensive line — although the unit did not have its best game of the year — with Covert at times holding on to the ball too long.
The freshman QB, making just his fourth college start, completed 10-of-22 passes for 196 yards, a TD and an interception.
Olomua led the CR running backs with 57 yards on 12 carries, while Savion McCoy added 28 yards on six carries and Covert had 25 yards on 13 carries.
There were several bright spots for the CR defense, including the play of Kameron Rogue, who continues to make his presence felt and finished with eight tackles, including six solo.
Morgan, Chaz Scott Jr., and Aaeden McCullum each added six tackles, with the latter adding two pass breakups, while former St. Bernard’s Crusader Jahsaree Bailey had his best game yet for the team and added five tackles.
“He did a good job controlling his gap,” White said of Bailey.
Cedar Sutherland had CR’s only sack of the day.
Redwoods will play a second straight home game next weekend when Monterey Peninsula travels to the Redwood Bowl.
