It’s been 14 years since a Colusa football team went unbeaten in its first three games of the season, but first year head coach Mikey Badaluco’s squad has done just that after posting a 34-7 victory over the visiting Willows Honkers last Friday night.
As has been the pattern this season, Colusa scored early and often in the first half overpowering a shorthanded Willows team that was without its head coach in addition to several key players due to COVID protocol.
To date, the RedHawks have outscored their opponents 111-15 and leading the way has been a pair of seniors in quarterback Emanuel Frias and receiver Nick Price who had connected for seven touchdowns heading into the game with Willows.
Against the Honkers Frias completed six of eight passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns while Price was on the receiving end of five of those throws accruing 146 yards and scoring twice.
Frias’s other touchdown was a 21-yard strike to sophomore Landon Humphrey who found the end zone for the second time in two games.
It’s quite possible that Colusa could have struck for even more points in the contest, but a running clock in the second half mercifully put the Honkers out of their misery by giving the RedHawks less than 10 snaps.
One aspect of the offense that the blowout situation allowed Colusa to work on was its run game, which Badaluco said had been a point of emphasis in practice last week.
As a result, junior running back Hayden McCarty had a nice night carrying seven times for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
Colusa now puts its unbeaten streak on the line when it makes the short trip to McCarl Field in Williams on Friday night for the first contest between the two county rivals since 2017.
