COLUSA, CA (MPG) – After playing a well-executed first half in which the game was tied 14-14 at intermission, the RedHawks saw things go south as visiting Colfax surged ahead to hand Colusa a 14-34 loss in its season opener at Yeghoian Field last Friday night.
In their first game under new head coach Mason Niccum, the RedHawks came out strong, scoring on their first drive when Emi Guzman caught a pass on a seven-yard out route from quarterback David Belmontes for a touchdown.
Colusa then extended its lead to 14-0 capitalizing when the Falcons punted a ball off the back of their own player and Benji Mata alertly ran it in for the score.
Unfortunately, for the RedHawks it would be their final points of the night as the Falcons regrouped to tie the game and go ahead for good in the second half.
Despite the setback, Niccum sees the result as a step in the right direction for his developing program.
“Colfax is a good football team and they played extremely well,” said the first-year head coach. “We were right there with them for the majority of the game; it just didn’t go our way late. We will build off the positives, but we need to play four quarters of complete football.”
One standout for Colusa was lineman Hunter Purvis, who from Niccum’s perspective played exceptionally hard on both sides of the ball, finishing the game with eight tackles.
Belmontes also turned in good effort rushing 13 times for 59 yards in addition to throwing six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown, while Asa Selover collected a team-high nine tackles.
Back at it tonight, the RedHawks make the long drive to Yreka to play the Miners.