The Giants varsity football team suffered a loss against the undefeated Marin Catholic Wildcats on Saturday with a final score of 55-6. This was Redwood’s seventh game this season, after almost two weeks of canceled athletics due to poor air quality from the nearby wildfires.
Going into the game, the Giants, with a record of 1-6 this season, knew victory would be difficult against Marin Catholic, who are 7-0. According to coach Alan Talley, limited practice time also set them behind.
“[Marin Catholic] was undefeated. We started off the game really good, but we hadn’t had practice in 10 days,” Talley said.
Despite being out of practice, the Giants started strong, giving Marin Catholic serious competition in the first quarter. Due to multiple incomplete passes by Marin Catholic, the Wildcats were unable to advance past seven yards in the span of seven plays. After a touchdown by Marin Catholic sophomore Gaven Cooke, Redwood’s offense retaliated.
After four plays by Redwood following the turnover, Giant’s quarterback junior Sam Warren looked to pass the ball. Warren spotted wide receiver junior Jack Morken, open by the end zone. A snap by Warren sent the ball straight to Morken, who made a one-handed catch in the end zone. A touchdown for Redwood incited cheers from the crowd and the players watching from the sideline. With no point for Redwood after the touchdown, the score came to 7-6, with Marin Catholic leading by one point at the beginning of the second quarter.
Sophomore defensive back Rudy Washington celebrated along with his teammates after the touchdown as no MCAL team has been able to have such a close score against Marin Catholic this current season.
“It was a really nice catch and it got our team really hyped up. It was nice being the first team to score on MC and hold them to a close game in the first [quarter],” Washington said.
Coach Talley couldn’t have been more pleased with how the first quarter went, but wishes the rest of the game could have gone as smoothly.
“7-6 going into the second quarter, you can’t beat that. We just have to learn how to finish and keep on fighting. That’s experience. We try to build our experience,” Talley said.
According to an interview by the Marin Independent Journal, Marin Catholic’s quarterback senior Spencer Petras was disappointed with the way the first quarter went for the Wildcats.
“We didn’t get into any rhythm early, but we just stayed calm and started to execute,” Petras said.
Redwood’s defense remained strong throughout the game, but struggled to slow down Petras, who made four touchdown passes. As the game went on, tensions were high as many penalties were called on both teams, including multiple personal fouls by Marin Catholic, one resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
However, this didn’t stop the Wildcats’ offense from fiercely pushing on, gaining three more touchdowns in the second quarter and bringing the score to 28-6 by halftime. Despite some hard tackles in the third quarter by Washington, Marin Catholic continued to advance down the field, with Cooke gaining another touchdown for the Wildcats. With two minutes left in the third quarter, Marin Catholic led by 35 points.
Redwood’s offense played hard but stumbled in the short time they had possession of the ball. Junior running back Alex Aguero managed to make two long runs during the game, the first taking the Giant’s all the way to the 22 yard line after the kick just before halftime.
Redwood gave it their all against their undefeated rival, according to Coach Talley.
“Backs against the wall, we killed ourselves, we got a score, we got out of the hole but we couldn’t score on that. We just have to finish strong,” Talley said.
Talley hopes to finish out this difficult season with full force.
“We just have to run the plays. No matter if you’re playing the best team or the worst team. Now we just have to get everybody to play four quarters, dig deep and suck it up,” Talley said.
The Giants will play their next game this Saturday against San Rafael on the Redwood field at 2 pm.
