WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – According to the adage known as Murphy’s Law, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” and for the Williams Yellowjackets, that was precisely the story last Friday night at McCarl Field as they were shutout by the visiting Colusa RedHawks 49-0.
Things went badly from the get-go for the ‘Jackets, when on their first play from scrimmage, just eight seconds into the game, Colusa’s Cayden Raj intercepted the pass to give the RedHawks the ball at the Williams 28 yard line.
After two penalties pushed the ball back to the their own 46, quarterback Bo Coronado hit Landon Humphrey for an 11 yard gain, then followed up by finding Isaiah Travis, who wove his way 43 yards through the middle of the field for Colusa’s first points of the game.
On its second possession Williams fared no better, when after being held to a three and out by the RedHawk defense, a bad snap resulted in an 18-yard loss after Travis tackled the punter deep in ‘Jacket territory at the 10 yard line.
Two plays later, Colusa was again in the end zone after an eight-yard run by Will McCoy, then tacked on the two point conversion to take a 15–0 lead with only four minutes elapsed in the first quarter.
Yet the RedHawks weren’t done and after forcing the ‘Jackets to turn the ball over on downs scored again when Coronado connected with McCoy on a short pass and the running back did the rest, racing 68 yards for the third RedHawk touchdown before the halfway point of the period.
Still, Colusa didn’t take its foot off the gas and on its fourth possession embarked on a seven-play drive that was capped by Adan Travis’s one yard run to make the score 29-0.
Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets there was more to go wrong, as on the ensuing kickoff no one touched the ball and the RedHawks recovered at the Williams 27.
Now, following a pass to Isaiah Travis to the 13 and a run by Abimael Fuerte to the five, Coronado found Peyton Humphrey in the end zone for Colusa’s fifth touchdown of the first half.
To their credit, the ‘Jackets continued to fight on offense and put together their longest drive of the game, but on the tenth play disaster struck once more as Isaiah Travis picked off a pass deep in RedHawk territory.
With seven minutes remaining until half, Colusa rattled off eight straight plays, but Williams was able make its first defensive stop of the night and maintain possession until the clock ran out in the second quarter.
It was an eventful first half for the RedHawks, albeit a disappointing one for the Yellowjackets, who found themselves down 36-0 at intermission.
`Nothing much changed in the second half, although Colusa added on two more touchdowns with runs by Adan Travis of 17 and five yards. It was the junior’s best performance of the season as he finished the game with 18 carries for 147 yards and three touchdowns.
In all, the RedHawks rolled up 396 yards of offense, despite a running clock in the fourth quarter, while the defense limited Williams to just 153.
Coronado completed nine passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, with McCoy and Isaiah Travis catching two apiece for 71 and 68 total yards respectively, while Charlie Santana hauled in four for 51 yards.
Spearheading the defense was Isaiah Travis with eight tackles including four for losses along with Hayden Sines, who made seven.
While head coach Mikey Badaluco didn’t have much to complain about after the blowout win, he did acknowledge that his team needs to clean up the penalties if it is going to successfully defend its section title.
“We had a lot of penalties tonight and we try to stay on these guys about it, but when the score got sideways, they lost their focus,” said Badaluco. “That’s something we need to get better at moving forward.”
For the Yellowjackets, Jose Campos ran hard, garnering 55 yards on 16 carries, while Daniel Brunner caught three balls for 28 yards.
Williams (1-3) continues its relentless preseason schedule tonight in Winters, whereas Colusa has a bye and will prepare for its Sacramento Valley League opener against Paradise on Sept. 29. H
