Redskins fall short at Trinity
Colusa finishes as runners-up in Division III
WEAVERVILLE – Like the winding route they took on Highway 299 to get to Weaverville, the Colusa Redskins' season was full of twists and turns, including illnesses and injuries that forced the Redskins coaching staff to scramble to fill positions with new players and bring them up to speed. On Thursday, Colusa put its best lineup on the field and attempted to match-up with the top-seeded Trinity Wolves, but ran up against a stingy Wolfpack defense that surrendered just 13 points as the Redskins were defeated 16-13 in the Division III championship.
The Redskins could not have scripted a better beginning to the contest, as Darren Smith recovered a Trinity fumble on the opening kickoff at the Wolves' 15-yard line, setting the stage for Jeremy Hernandez's two-yard scoring plunge and a Luis Benitez PAT for a quick 7-0 lead.
Trinity scored a late TD in the first quarter on a three-yard Luke Curran carry, but the PAT was blocked and Colusa held a 7-6 advantage.
The Redskins defense rose to the occasion in the second quarter, after a poor snap and short punt gave Trinity the ball on Colusa's 22-yard line. After marching to 1st-and-goal on the nine, the Wolves were hit with delay of game and illegal procedure penalties to lose 10 yards, and Anthony Mojica made a key tackle for a 3-yard loss to bring up 4th-and-goal from the 23. Justin Jeangerard's pass found its mark, but unfortunately for Trinity the receiver could not come down in-bounds, and the Redskins took their 7-6 lead into halftime.
Unofficially, Colusa totaled 104 yards of offense in the first half, to Trinity's 109. Carlos Gutierrez carried 15 times for 86 yards to lead the Redskins. The offensive parity disappeared in the third quarter.
Colusa was held to a pair of three-and-outs in the third quarter, while Trinity tacked on 10 points on another three-yard Curran TD, with Jeangerard adding the PAT and a 30-yard field goal to take a 16-7 lead heading into the game's final 12 minutes.
The Redskins began the fourth quarter with their worst field position of the night, on their own 20-yard line following a kickoff. Ten plays later, Gutierrez managed to maintain his balance long enough to cross the plane with the football for a 13-yard score, but Benitez was stopped when he tried to run in the conversion. Colusa was within three points, but was unable to do anything with the ball on its final two possessions, allowing Trinity to take a knee three straight plays to run out the game clock.
After the handshakes were completed, Colusa coach Bob Miller addressed his team, ""I'm proud of you. We went through so much this year but you still got here," referring to the illnesses and injuries the squad endured.
"It hurts to lose," the coach said, "but you couldn't ask for a better group of kids. Trinity is a good team, and they didn't make may mistakes."
The Wolves ran for 245 yards on 29 carries, with Curran pacing the effort with 150 yards in 15 attempts.
The Redskins finished the season 8-5.
Craig Purcell is sports editor of Tri-County Newspapers. Contact him at 824-1036 or sports@tcnpress.com.
