Prep football: Redwood survives scare for win over San Leandro

When their backs were against the wall, the Giants persevered.

“It was ugly, but it was a win,” said Redwood High senior Sean Cunneen who broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Giants a 21-14 victory at Bob Troppman Field over non-league foe San Leandro in the season opener.

“We made solid plays, but obviously it’s the first game,” said Cunneen, who carried the ball 17 times for 109 yards. “The same thing kind of happened last year against the same San Leandro team. I think this was a good way to get out the jitters, and it shows character. In tough games like that, it’s more about the next play. That’s the most important play.”

Redwood is now looking ahead to its next matchup on Sept. 6 at Rancho Cotate in another non-league tuneup.

The day started well for the Giants (1-0) as they drove 76 yards in eight plays to score on the game’s opening drive. Senior quarterback Kody Vasquez launched a 21-yard missile over traffic and into the outstretched hands of a diving Ronan Ralston for a touchdown.

“We had fumbles, an interception, some deep plays, and solid defense,” Vasquez said. “We got through those bad plays and that’s what matters.”

It looked like San Leandro could match Redwood, but the Giants defense stopped the Pirates on the goal line when Ben Vaughn forced a fumble. The Giants went four-and-out, and punted from their own 4-yard line, but the sequence showed the strength of the Redwood defense, which sacked Pirates quarterback Radman Beatty three times for 23 yards and recovered a pair of San Leandro fumbles.

The Giants defense, anchored by Ben Vaughn and Canon, held San Leandro off the scoreboard for three quarters.

The Giants were driving toward the end zone again in the second quarter, when they suffered a difficult loss. Senior receiver Markel Doss took a hard hit and was taken from the field with an apparent neck injury. An update during the game reported he was recovering. Giants head coach Allen Talley left the sidelines to stay with Doss.

“The team played for a teammate today,” Cunneen said.

The teams continued to chew up minutes and yards to no avail as the Pirates’ Nathaniel Brunson intercepted Vasquez, then Cooper Canon got the ball right back with a forced fumble at midfield.

The Giants scored again with just 26 seconds left in the first half as Vasquez targeted a 15-yard pass to Dylan McGrath, who got his toes down just inside the end zone for a touchdown.

It looked like the scoring might end there, but the Pirates took advantage of a series of penalties and mistakes by the Giants to ties the score with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Giants were called for pass interference four times for 46 yards.

Less than a minute after San Leandro tied the score at 14 apiece, Cunneen was off to the races, breaking through the Pirates’ line and sprinting down the opposite sideline for the deciding touchdown.

Redwood 21, San Leandro 14

non-league

San Leandro 0 0 0 14 – 14

Redwood 7 7 0 7 – 21

SCORING SUMMARY

R — Ralston 21 pass from K. Vasquez (Suko kick)

R — McGrath 15 pass from K. Vasquez (Suko kick)

SL — Brunson 29 pass from Beatty (run fail)

SL — Magallanes 4 pass from Beatty (Beatty run)

R — Cunneen 49 run (Suko kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Redwood, Cunneen 17-109, Quach 1-7. Totals 18-126. San Leandro Bradley 14-64, Crayton 11-25, Beatty 4-11, Chavez 5-24. Totals 34-124.

PASSING — Redwood, K. Vasquez 23-27-1 212. San Leandro, Beatty 7–11-0 112. Sacks: 3-23. Totals 11-15-0 89.

RECEIVING — Redwood, Doss 3-40, Vaughn 5-20, Quach 4-53, Ralston 1-21, Cunneen 4-32, Brooks 2-7, McGrath 3-31, Garcia Harrison 1-8. Totals 23-212. San Leandro, Brunson 4-94, DeAnda 2-14, Magallanes 1-4. Totals 7-112.

Records — Redwood 1-0, San Leandro 0-1