On the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 7, the varsity football team played a close game against San Marin. Redwood lost with a score of 18-27. Despite the loss, the varsity team played admirably according to sophomore Joey Calzaretta, a linebacker and fullback on varsity for the first time.
“We played a really good, hard-fought game. We started off slow but during halftime we really came together and we came out firing during the second half,” Calzaretta said.
Calzaretta scored a touchdown with a three yard dive up the middle in the second half along with junior Alex Aguero, an offensive starter for varsity, who scored two. Sam Mauro, a senior and two year varsity player, complimented Aguero and Calzaretta on their teamwork so far this season.
“I think we run the ball well. Alex and Joe are a good team,” Mauro said.
The record this season is quite a change since last year’s, according to multiple players. Coach Talley, head coach of the varsity team, reported that the record for the 2016 team around this time last year was 4-1 in their favor.
Coaches and players alike are noticing the difference and many have speculated to the possible causes. Mauro believes a surrendering attitude is to blame.
“A few of the games [lost] were winnable. We gave up towards the fourth quarter. I think if we hadn’t given up during the fourth quarter then we definitely could have won those games. We could have tried harder,” Mauro said.
Tally agrees with Mauro, saying they could have won the games had they not given up. Talley also gives his own judgment to the possible causes.
“We’re a newer team, we graduated a lot of guys and getting these new guys to play together and work together, that’s the one big difference,” Talley said.
Many people attribute the defeats to the loss of seniors last year.. According to Mauro, they graduated 9 out of the 11 starters on offense.
“The seniors [last year] were the ones scoring touchdowns, making big plays, and they got everyone really engaged in the team,” Calzaretta said.
However, Calzaretta and Talley note how the novelty of the current varsity team has some positive aspects. Talley gives a hopeful, contrasting opinion.
“We’re young, so we get better day by day,” Talley said. “We lost a lot of experience, but we got a good group of kids, we’re just putting it together a little later than we wanted to.”
Calzaretta stays optimistic in hopes the season will take a positive turn.
“It was a tough loss, but San Marin is one of the best teams in the league and it showed our potential because we just came to play,” Calzaretta said.
