Red Bluff wins season opener over Orland High
Red Bluff records first win since 2018
ORLAND >> Red Bluff and Orland High stepped onto the gridiron for each team’s first game since November 2019 on Friday, yet for the Spartans, it had been much longer than that since they last experienced the feeling of winning.
After a 0-10 campaign in 2019, Red Bluff turned a new page by defeating Orland 18-0 on the Trojans’ home turf, scoring each of its three touchdowns in the first half before both sides played to a scoreless final 24 minutes.
“We’ve been waiting a long time — a super long time,” said Red Bluff senior quarterback Clyde Shaver, who accounted for all three of the Spartans’ touchdowns — two on the ground and one through the air. “It’s different for a Red Bluff football team.”
‘Waiting’ is what prep athletes in the Northern Section and throughout the state have become accustomed to over the last year during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though teams began practicing in the summer, state health restrictions permitting, the delay of football (and other sports) in the fall led many teams to halt practices.
That was until exactly one month ago, Feb. 19, when the California Department of Public Health updated its youth sports guidelines to allow outdoor contact sports, including football, to be played in counties within a certain COVID-19 case rate. With little advance notice, teams were tasked with building a foundation in much less time than normal.
“When we got into January ... we would literally have two, three kids show up every day. It was like, ‘man, we’re losing interest here,’” Orland
head coach Nick Velazquez said. “Then all of a sudden, three weeks ago we’re practicing. It’s been a struggle, because usually you get about four months before your first game; this is three weeks. And, we’ve got a really green team. As you saw tonight in the first half, we were just ugly.”
Red Bluff scored on its opening possession, which began at its own 20-yard line and lasted for more than half of the first quarter. On a 4th-and-goal from Orland’s 5-yard line, Shaver snuck into the end zone up the middle to give the Spartans a 6-0 lead.
The Trojans, meanwhile, punted on their first two possessions and ended the third by turning the ball over on downs. That led Shaver to air out a 39yard touchdown early in the second quarter, then run another quarterback keeper into the end zone untouched from 16 yards out with 50 seconds left in the half.
“We’ve been practicing since last summer,” Shaver said. “It feels great. All the energy we have — it’s a different team from last year ... It’s exciting.”
While Orland’s offense had trouble gaining momentum, its defense forced three turnovers. The first was an interception in the first quarter, a brilliant snag in the end zone from Michael Lister, and the second pick came in the third quarter when Nico Gutierrez stepped in front of a Red Bluff pass to collect it cleanly. Orland also recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter.
“I think most of the team was nervous — first game in (16) months,” Orland senior Angel Bravo said.
“We’ve just got to come back Monday stronger and better, go to Oroville and get the ‘W.’”