There are several reasons why the Redwood High football team has championship aspirations under second-year head coach Curtis Allen.
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The biggest one?
The Rangers are loaded, on offense and defense, and may be Tulare County’s most complete team.
Just ask Central Valley Christian.
Redwood defeated the Cavaliers 50-23 to stay undefeated in both teams' East Yosemite League opener at Cavalier Stadium in Visalia.
The Rangers led 36-9 after the third quarter before coaches inserted reserves for parts of the final period.
In one-and-a-half seasons, under Allen's leadership, the Rangers have gone a combined 14-3, with all three losses coming by 14 total points in 2025.
How has Allen been able to re-establish that Rangers' winning tradition in such a short amount of time?
"I just think the major factor is just our discipline," Redwood senior receiver Ollie Richardson said. "He's always on us. ... And I think that's honestly a blessing and a curse at the same time because we really need a coach like that."
And that's exactly what happened against CVC.
After cornerback London Butler returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown on the game's third play from scrimmage, big-game jitters briefly plagued Redwood.
On Redwood's opening drive, a high snap forced quarterback Nash McElree to lose yardage as he was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
Eight plays later, that led to a CVC punt, which was muffed by Jairus Brooks and recovered by CVC's Bryce Kirchman at the Redwood 12-yard line.
The Cavaliers capitalized on that turnover and turned it into a 9-7 lead on Ja'Khari Burrell's eight-yard touchdown run.
Redwood answered on the very next possession, though, as Brooks redeemed his miscue and turned a short bubble screen into a 58-yard catch-and-run.
That score gave Redwood a 14-9 edge, and they never looked back.
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The Rangers' defense got on the board again with 3:25 in the second quarter when defensive lineman Adrian Legarda sacked CVC quarterback Asher Piepgrass in the end zone for a safety.
Richardson then caught back-to-back touchdowns — one on a one-yard snag as time expired for halftime and another on a 27-yard out route, where he bounced off a pair of tackles, raced toward the goal line, and dove into the end zone.
Richardson's second touchdown gave the Rangers a commanding 29-9 lead with 9:13 left in the third.
"It was great knowing I broke those tackles and got us up a little bit more," Richardson said. "It put us in a more safer spot to kind of just chill and relax."
Redwood scored a season-high 50 points — nine of which came via the defense on a Butler's pick-six and safety.
Butler, a senior, set the tone right away in a game many Visalia football fans have been anticipating for decades.
"It felt good," Butler said. "I was glad to help my team get the momentum going."
Excluding the last drive of the game where Redwood ran out the clock for the win, the Rangers scored on four straight offensive possessions from the end of the second quarter to the fourth.
McElree was efficient in his EYL debut, hitting 13-of-17 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Two of his incompletions came on a throwaway and a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. He completed his first seven passes and finished the game with a 76% completion rate.
Backup quarterback Michael Garcia also had a pair of touchdown passes. He entered the game on the last play of the second quarter after McElree was forced to leave the field when a CVC defender ripped off his helmet.
Facing a fourth-and-goal at the CVC 1, Garcia connected with Richardson on a fade pass in the corner of the end zone, and the Rangers rolled into halftime with a 22-9 advantage.
"He threw it perfectly," Richardson said. "It was great, man, just knowing I can get up there and get the ball whenever I can and trust my quarterback to give me a good ball. It's just amazing."
After a slow start, Redwood got in gear and finished with 383 yards of total offense, throwing for 212 yards on 19 attempts and rushing for 171 yards.
Rangers running back Qur'An Goodman led all rushers with 125 yards on just eight carries. He ripped off a 58-yard touchdown in the second half. Brooks finished with a game-best 93 yards receiving on just four receptions.
"We definitely started getting down on each other, but I just told everybody, like, 'We cannot get down. We have to keep pushing. We just have to keep pushing,'" Richardson said. "And our line did a beautiful job just opening holes for our running backs and our quarterbacks. Just making everything flow perfectly."
Redwood 50, Central Valley Christian 23
Redwood 7 15 14 14 - 50
CVC 9 0 0 14 - 23
First quarter
R – London Butler 28 interception return (Josgar Guerrero kick), 10:43
CVC – Nash McElree tackled in end zone for safety, 7:08
CVC – Ja’Khari Burrell 8 run (Luke Kaminski kick), 2:40
Second quarter
R – Jairus Brooks 58 pass from Nash McElree (Guerrero kick), 11:17
R – Asher Piepgrass tackled in end zone for safety, 3:25
R – Ollie Richardson 1 pass from Michael Garcia (run failed), :00
Third quarter
R – Richardson 27 pass from McElree (Guerrero kick), 9:13
R – Adrian Melgar 19 run (Guerrero kick), 4:09
Fourth quarter
CVC – Nathan Talamantez 5 pass from Asher Piepgrass (Kaminski kick), 11:14
R – Qur’An Goodman 58 run (Guerrero kick), 8:58
R – Andre Ceballos 27 pass from Garcia (Guerrero kick), 2:59
CVC – Case de Jong 24 run (Kaminski kick), 1:22
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Redwood: Nash McElree 9-16, Team 2-(minus) 24, Qur’An 8-125, Jairus Brooks 1-6, Adrian Melgar 2-19, Chase Luna 2-29. CVC: Josh Hilvers 6-0, Case De Jong 3-22, Nathan Talamantez 1-1, Asher Piepgrass 8-7, Shondel Hogan 7-37, Ja’Khari Burrell 13-75.
PASSING – Redwood: McElree 13-17-0 184, Michael Garcia 2-2-0 28. CVC: Piepgrass 6-12-1 36, Nathan Peters 1-1-0 3.
RECEIVING – Redwood: Ollie Richardson 5-54, Brooks 4-93, Cash Lovenburg 1-4, Goodman 2-7, Andre Ceballos 2-38, Exavier Jackson 1-16. CVC: Hogan 4-26, Talamantez 1-5.
Records – Redwood 5-0, CVC 0-5.
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This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood football stays perfect after dominant win over Central Valley Christian
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