Giants football starts fast, rolls past Redwoods 41-21

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

For the first time this season, College of the Sequoias' football team got off to a fast start.

And that propelled the JC Athletic Bureau state No. 16-ranked Giants to a 41-21 nonconference victory over College of the Redwoods on Sept. 20 at Sequoias Stadium.

Sequoias scored on its first two possessions sandwiched around a defensive touchdown to jump out to a 20-0 lead with 4 minutes and 7 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Giants (3-1) had been held scoreless in the first quarter through their first three games.

"We not just talked about it but literally worked in practice on starting fast and physical with the special teams unit. It always starts with special teams," Sequoias coach Matt Mendonca said. "Can one of the units (defense or special teams) either score or get a three-and-out and play with a lead throughout the entirety of the game, and we were able to do that. That was something we've definitely been focusing on. That's our first game where we scored in the first quarter, and the first time we've scored on our first drive, so excited about that."

After forcing Redwoods (0-4) to lose 6 yards during a three-and-out, game-opening possession, Sequoias took over for the first time at the Corsairs' 47-yard line.

A 32-yard pass from Payton Faker (Burien, Wash.) to Gage Armbruster (Corcoran) put the Giants into scoring position and they completed a five-play, 53-yard drive with Faker's 12-yard strike to Armbruster.

"We knew we wanted to come out fast and physical, start strong," Faker said. "We've got guys that can make plays, so I just got to get the guys the football.

"We start the game off with a big explosive play and that fuels motivation. Guys get excited."

Sequoias made it 13-0 seven plays later when Wendell Ware (Edison-Fresno) intercepted a Devon Forehand pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.

It was Ware's second interception of the season after the preseason All-American made two interceptions for Sequoias all of last season.

"Early in the game I knew if the ball found me, if they tried me, I was going to score," Ware said. "Not a lot of teams try me, and they came out and tried me in the first quarter and it showed."

The Giants' defense stuffed the next Redwoods possession -- getting a tackle for loss from Jason Burns (Las Vegas) and a stop for no gain from Josiah Harris (Denver) -- forcing a punt.

Faker proceeded to direct a four-play, 64-yard scoring march that was capped by his 18-yard pass to Dontae Gentles (Sunrise, Fla.). The drive also featured an 11-yard Faker scramble and a 21-yard run  by Mookie Gosby (Kent, Wash.).

Redwoods would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.

Sequoias' defense yielded the only points it would allow until late in the fourth quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Forehand to Darren Dodd with 12:30 remaining in the second quarter.

The Corsairs cut the deficit to 20-14 with 11:31 left in the second when Kameron Rogue returned an interception 47 yards for a score.

But the Giants responded with a pair of touchdowns of their own to go into halftime with a 34-14 lead.

Gosby scored from 1-yard out with 9:09 left in the second quarter, and Faker connected with O'Bryan Flanigan (San Francisco) for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:56 to go.

"We're a dangerous team," Faker said. "We've got players everywhere, offense, defense and special teams. We've got to clean up some stuff but we're looking forward to the weeks to come."

Playing mostly reserves in the fourth quarter, Sequoias surrendered a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bryton Livingst to Alex Meadows to make it 34-21 with 1:58 remaining in the game.

But Sequoias' backups had an answer to that, too, as second-string quarterback Caden Dawes (Tucson, Ariz.) hit Wyatt Boyd (Kingsburg) for a 7-yard touchdown that capped a six-play, 42-yard drive and made it 41-21 with 26 seconds left.

"I'm happy to win. It's really hard to win not just at our level but any level of football," Mendonca said. "Really proud of the effort for our guys. They practiced hard this week, and I think that showed for about three quarters out there. We have such a young team, we haven't even touched the surface of where we can be with this group. To get a win like that, especially given the way we played, you take it."

Faker finished 21 of 34 for 285 yards and three touchdowns.

Gentles had seven catches for 103 yards, while Armbruster caught four passes for 72 yards.

Gosby was the Giants' leading rusher with 47 yards on five carries.

Defensively, Harris led the way with six total tackles -- two for quarterback sacks and two others for losses.

Pana Tuputala (Federal Way, Wash.) and Gavin Silene (Gilbert, Ariz.) had four tackles apiece.

Josiah Paaga (West Seattle, Wash.), Mark Pullman (Santa Maria), Moses Saulsbury (Redwood High), Christian Markum (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Burns all had tackles for losses as Sequoias made seven overall.

Cannon Coffee (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Cassidy Bolong-Banks (Tacoma, Wash.) each had three of Sequoias' 14 total pass breakups.

The only real negative for the Giants is they committed 17 penalties that cost them 130 yards.

"I feel we're in a good spot. We've played some good football at times this year," Mendonca said. "We've just got to continue to work on the details. Penalties are killers. When you are playing against elite teams, you are not going to be able to overcome those things. The penalties have to get cleaned up. Guys are playing really hard. Schematically, offensively and defensively, we've got everything we need. We've just got to clean up some of the details, but I'm really happy with where we are. We're still continuing to get better every week, and that's really what you want to see, a team still able to improve."

The Giants are set to close their nonconference schedule against their toughest test to date, a home game against No. 3 Butte (4-0) scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at Sequoias Stadium.

Butte is coming off a 43-29 road win against No. 7 Modesto. The Roadrunners have played one common opponent, beating San Francisco 34-14 at home on Sept. 13. Sequoias lost to San Francisco 24-21 at home on Sept. 6.

After facing Butte, the Giants will have a week off before launching Valley Conference play at 1 p.m. Oct. 11 at No. 19 Sacramento City (2-2).

The Valley Conference features five state ranked teams, with Monterey Peninsula (4-0) at No. 11 and Fresno City (2-1) at No. 13.