SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA (MPG) – A new chapter was added to the history of Colusa football last Saturday Evening as the RedHawks punched their ticket to the 2023 Division
6-A State Championship game with a resounding 42-6 road victory over the South San Francisco Warriors.
It was the second year in a row that the back-to-back Northern Section Division IV champs had reached the NorCal regional championship, and while they fell in 2022, that experience paid off this season according to head coach Mikey Badaluco.
“That experience for us was huge,” said Badaluco, a third-year coach who has guided his team to a 30-7 record in that span. “It allowed us to be able to find that balance between
keeping kids practicing with physicality, while, at the same time, keeping their bodies and minds fresh.”
Without question, what the RedHawk staff has done, and the way the players have responded over the past six months, has worked, as evidenced by the way the team dominated the Warriors in every phase of the game.
And while the offense was impressive, the defense, which has yielded a mere 10.6 points per game this season, was spectacular once again, forcing three turnovers and allowing South City no more than five first downs.
Focus on defense has been of the utmost importance this year according to Badaluco, who explained his team’s success by saying, “We put a high priority on defense. We watch a lot of film as a team and have small group meetings after practice to watch even more on big game weeks. It’s paid off because all three levels of our defense have been playing
lights out.”
One of the biggest contributors of late has been senior defensive end Parker Goodman, who against the Warriors recovered a fumble, caused another, and recorded a sack.
Also having a major influence on the outcome was fellow senior Will McCoy, who in addition to blowing up the South City run game., scored the RedHawks’ second touchdown of
the night with a 35-yard pick-six. Seniors Hayden Sines and Nicko Mata, along with junior Abimael Fuerte, were disruptive forces all game long as well.
Thus, with the defense fully in control of the game, the offense was free to go on the attack and did just that, beginning in the second quarter when a sack by Sines forced a punt and gave Colusa the ball inside Warrior territory at the 44.
A 29-yard run by Aiden Selover took the ball down to the 15, then two plays later, quarterback Bo Coronado hit McCoy in the flat and the running back did the rest, taking
it 13 yards to the house.
After Landon Humphrey tacked on the extra point, the RedHawks held a 7-0 advantage.
However, Colusa added on quickly, just 23 seconds later on the McCoy interception.
But the RedHawks still weren’t done, and, after Goodman recovered a fumble inside the red zone at the 12, Colusa capitalized on fourth and seven when Coronado found Isaiah Travis in the end zone from 10-yards out.
With a 21-0 lead, the RedHawks were a little careless coming out after halftime, turning the ball over, but re-grouped immediately following a fumble recovery by Sines at the
Colusa 29.
After a long gain by Selover put the ball at the Warrior 48, Coronado lofted a pass in the direction of Travis, who used his entire 6’6” frame to haul in the pass and then twisted away from the defenders to score his second touchdown of the
game.
It was a big night for the senior receiver, who was nearly unstoppable catching six balls for 89 yards and also returned a punt back for another touchdown, although it was negated by a RedHawk penalty.
Colusa added one more score in the third period as Selover was rewarded for his efforts, finding pay dirt after a short run, although it was on the ensuing kickoff that South City turned into its only points of the game.
In the fourth, and up 35-6, Selover capped the scoring with a 15-yard scamper to the outside for the touchdown that resulted in a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Employing their multi-dimensional offense, the RedHawks executed both on the ground and
through the air, something Badaluco credited not only to his talented players, but to his assistant coaches as well.
“When our run game is going, it’s hard to defend us,” said Badaluco.“Our quarterback is extremely accurate, and we have four bona fide wide receivers that would be the No.1 option on many teams, so we just try to hit the open guy. It’s also a credit to our offensive coordinators, Zach Troughton and Curtis Perkins, who have been incredible at dialing
it up.”
Still, for all the RedHawks success this year, Badaluco made one thing abundantly clear, that he has a special group of players.
“The best thing about all of this is the kids,” he said. “We have great kids. They have been at this since June and it’s a grind, but they were never satisfied and still aren’t. It is a testament to them as well as their parents.”
As a result of the win, Colusa (13-0) now stands on the precipice of being the first football team from Colusa County to win a state championship and will head to El Camino College in Torrance to take on Sweetwater (8-6), the SoCal Regional champion, from National
City near San Diego on Dec. 9 at 11 am.