Redwood defense shines in win over El Diamante
The Redwood High School football team leaned on its defense last season en route to an outright East Yosemite League championship.
During that perfect 5-0 run, the Rangers surrendered just 33 points in league play.
It appears Redwood will rely on its defense again in 2023.
The Rangers defeated El Diamante 14-7 on Friday night at Visalia Community Stadium to kick off EYL action with a win. They recorded three interceptions in the seven-point victory, receiving one each from linebackers Enrique Segura and Scotty Weber and cornerback Isaiah Galaviz. Defensive end Kai Preisendorf also led the team with two sacks.
Redwood (3-3, 1-0) held El Diamante to just 173 yards of total offense (25 rushing, 148 passing). The Miners averaged just 3.3 yards per play and only had one play from scrimmage gain 20 yards or more — a 24-yard catch by Joseph Bediwi in the third quarter.
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The Rangers also forced three El Diamante (0-6, 0-1) punts and only one Miners' drive crossed the red zone.
"We've leaned on our defense plenty of times this year and tonight was no exception," Redwood head coach Kevin Scharton said. "Hats off to our defense. They did a great job. ... Defense, they kind of been our foundation so we got to get our offense up to speed."
Dropped passes, poor execution, mental mistakes and penalties stalled several of Redwood's drives but the Rangers did just enough offensively to secure the victory.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Sanchez tossed two touchdown passes. He gave the Rangers a 6-0 lead in the second quarter when he hit Evan Galley for a 36-yard score.
Then in the third, Sanchez fired an 11-yard strike to Moses Burk. Galley caught the two-point conversion and the Rangers extended their advantage to 14-0 with 5 minutes and 14 seconds left in that quarter. Both of Sanchez's touchdown passes came via play-action.
"The way we have been going, getting our first win, that was the goal," Scharton said. "It wasn't pretty but it's a win and I felt like we left some plays out on the field. Some easy plays that we didn't execute. I felt like that probably would have helped us out a little. We didn't execute. To be a good football team, you have to execute those things. Hopefully, we get those things fixed next week."
Sanchez passed for a game-high 121 yards on 9-of-14 passing. Galley led the team with five catches for 63 yards. Burk had three receptions for 27 yards.
"Having a sophomore, he'll go through his growing pains, you know," Scharton said. "He stubs his toe every once in a while but the thing is he keeps his poise. He keeps everything under control. He's getting better. He runs our offense better by the week."
Preisendorf had another strong outing against El Diamante. In three career games versus the Miners, the 6-foot-2 and 225-pound defensive end has racked up five sacks.
El Diamante averaged just 1.3 yards per rush. The Miners had only one rushing attempt gain 10 yards or more — a 13-yard scamper by quarterback Joseph Trevizo.
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"This is the Redwood defense we've been waiting for all season," Preisendorf said.
El Diamante got within a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Kaleb Konersman hit Jeremiah West on a five-yard connection to cut the Redwood lead to 14-7 but the Rangers iced the game by running out the final 3:13 off the game clock.
Konersman threw for 104 yards and West had six catches for 54 yards.
Redwood 14, El Diamante 7
Redwood 0 6 8 0 - 14
El Diamante 0 0 0 7 - 7
Second quarter
R – Evan Galley 36 pass from Luke Sanchez (kick failed), 10:13
Third quarter
R – Moses Burk 11 pass from Sanchez (Galley pass from Sanchez), 5:04
Fourth quarter
E – Jeremiah West 5 pass from Kaleb Konersman (Edward Perez kick), 3:13
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Redwood: Alex Perch 17-81, A.J. Garza 10-63, Luke Sanchez 2-16, Torren Mancour 1-14, Team-(minus) 1. El Diamante: Jeremiah West 1-2, Kaleb Konersman 4-(minus) 9, Kaleb Silva 6-6, Joseph Trevizo 7-24, Edward Perez 1-2.
PASSING – Redwood: Sanchez 9-14-1 121, Erik Rico 0-1-1, Moses Burk 0-1-0. El Diamante: Konersman 12-22-3 104, Silva 0-1-0, Trevizo 5-9-0 44.
RECEIVING – Redwood: Evan Galley 5-63, Burk 3-27, Nathan Kinser 1-31. El Diamante: Anthony Noreiga 5-50, Joseph Bediwi 2-30, Mason Ortega 1-(minus) 2, Silva 1-4, West 6-54, Trevizo 2-12.
Records – Redwood 3-3, 1-0; El Diamante 0-6, 0-1.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood defense shines in win over El Diamante
