After breaking through a pile of Justin-Siena defenders, senior tailback Nick Calzaretta emerged without his helmet and picked up an extra four yards. Calzaretta returned to the sideline, bloodied from what appeared to be a nosebleed. Instead, he had bit through his upper lip after his chin crashed into his shoulder pad, resulting in five stitches.
The injury was hardly a setback for Calzaretta, who would go on to rush for 136 yards on just 13 carries, totaling 20 of Redwood’s 52 points in its shutout victory over Justin-Siena last Saturday.
Perhaps more notable than Calzaretta’s performance was the potential shown by the Giants’ receiver core.
Senior Alex Wilson had a productive day, catching eight passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns, including a spectacular one-handed catch.
“I don’t know how I caught it. I went up, it stuck to my hand, I brought it down and the [defender’s] helmet popped it up. It landed right there and I pulled it in,” Wilson said.
Wilson also showed his breakaway speed on a 53-yard touchdown catch, getting into the open field after a perfectly placed pass from senior quarterback Trevor Foehr.
“Trevor caught me right in stride; the pass was perfect, right where I needed it, so I could focus on the catch and finish it with the run,” Wilson said.
Senior receiver Hayden Blum also made a sprawling catch in the back of the endzone which was part of a 30-point second quarter for the Redwood offense. https://vimeo.com/184447183
The win came a week after a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of rival Marin Catholic. The Giants responded by trouncing a Justin-Siena team who was missing star quarterback Aidan Willard due to injury.
The biggest difference from this week to last: lack of turnovers.
“When we don’t make those mistakes, you can see how lethal we are on offense,” said offensive coordinator Chris Agusto.
Calzaretta believes that the practice schedule this past week was also a big part of the win.
“It was the same football we’ve always played, this week we just practiced harder because of the loss,” he said.
The Giants will look to carry their confidence over into next week with a home game versus Terra Linda on Saturday, Oct. 1.
