College of the Redwoods closed out the 2026 season at the Sequoia Bowl on Saturday, in a game that got away from the visitors in the second half.
Redwoods traveled to Visalia to play College of the Sequoias and lost 38-24.
The hosts outscored CR 31-7 in the second and third quarters combined to take control, including a 69-yard scoop and score by Kristian Wood late in the first half just as the visitors were threatening to pull level.
“That was probably the biggest play of the game,” CR head coach Jason White said.
With the loss, Redwoods finished up 6-5, while Sequoias closed out 7-4.
Overall, however, it was a good season for the local community college program, which continued to establish itself in the National Division after making the switch from the American Division before the 2025 season.
“I’m proud of the guys,” White said. “We had our first winning season in the National Division and our first bowl game in the National Division. These guys have helped move the program forward and we’ll keep building on that for next year.”
Saturday’s game could have gone either way, but it was the home team that made the plays it needed to at critical times.
Redwoods scored first on a 10-yard Mataio Olomua TD run barely four minutes in to lead 6-0.
The Giants would respond with their first TD of the afternoon just a few minutes later, but CR would answer with a 29-yard Brandon Sailer field goal late in first quarter to retake the lead, and the visitors carried a 9-7 advantage into the second quarter.
However, the game would start to get away from them after that.
Just two minutes into the second quarter, Sequoias retook the lead on a one-yard Jimmy Burk TD run and they would lead the remainder of the way.
A field goal and Wood’s scoop and score stretched the advantage out to 15 (24-9), before a four-yard TD pass from CR quarterback Landon McKee to Tanner Pidgeon with less than a minute remaining in the half pulled the visitors within eight (24-16) at the break.
But any real chances of a comeback slipped away in the third quarter as the Giants added two more TDs while holding CR scoreless for the period.
The Giants moved the ball well on the CR defense for most of the afternoon.
“Defensively it was a little bit of a struggle,” White said. “They’re big up front and they were kind of moving us around.
“Offensively, we had good drives and made some plays. We were moving the ball on them and we felt good about that.”
CR out-gained the Giants in total offense, 420 to 359, while averaging 7.1 yards a play compared to the home team’s 5.4 yards.
McKee, who got his third straight start in place of the injured Kasen Covert, had a pretty good day once again, completing 21-of-38 passes for 312 yards and two TDs, but he also threw a late interception.
“Landon played pretty good except for that last pick,” White said. “He’s been a really good second string quarterback for us, and that makes us feel good going into next year.”
Quinton Buckland led the CR receivers with 95 yards on six catches, while Tre Silva capped an impressive season with 71 yards on five catches despite being double-teamed for much of the game.
Justice Anthony added 42 yards and a TD on four catches and Olomua had 40 yards on two catches.
A couple of former H-DNL players impressed in their first collegiate postseason game.
Pidgeon, a Ferndale graduate, finished with a game-high 78 yards rushing on five carries, including a 59-yard gain, while former Eureka Logger Gavyn Haberman, who was starting in place of the injured Kuron Devlin, had an interception for CR’s only takeaway of the day and also had two pass breakups.
