Redwood rolls to big victory against Galileo

It only took a couple of moments for the Galileo High football team to realize it might be a long afternoon Saturday in Larkspur after its short bus ride from The City.

The Lions bobbled the opening kickoff and were left deep in their own territory. Two negative rushing plays later and Redwood led on a safety.

Redwood never let up, scoring eight touchdowns en route to a 61-0 home win. The loss ruined Galileo head coach Nick Naudain’s homecoming. Naudain, formerly Redwood’s head froshsoph coach, was hired at the San Francisco school two years ago.

“Nick’s had a bit of a rough start as a varsity head coach,” Redwood coach Allen Talley said. “Their entire season was canceled last year and he’s taken two tough losses this year. But he’s a good coach. He’ll bounce back.”

The Giants, on the other hand, have a bounce in their step after starting the season with two lopsided victories. They have outscored their first two opponents 109-0.

Against Galileo, Redwood pretty much did whatever it wanted on both sides of the ball.

“Any time the offense is rolling and the defense is making stops, that’s success. That’s nice to see when everyone succeeds, regardless of who you’re playing and it can carry over to the next week.”

— Zack Johnson, Redwood linebacker.

Redwood’s defense was especially adept, accounting for two safeties, three interceptions — one of which was returned for a touchdown — and four sacks.

Galileo’s running game was mostly stuck in reverse. Of the Lions 23 rushing plays, 13 went for negative yardage.

The Lions’ passing game fared only slightly better. Constant pressure from a fierce pass rush led to the three picks.

“Last (game) we had some lapses in our drops (in coverage against the pass),” said Redwood linebacker Zack Johnson, who scored his first varsity touchdown when he returned an interception 35 yards midway through the first quarter. “Any time the offense is rolling and the defense is making stops, that’s success. That’s nice to see when everyone succeeds, regardless of who you’re playing and it can carry over to the next week.”

Johnson said he had a hunch he might score a touchdown Saturday. But he was surprised by the way he scored it.

“I was thinking it was going to come on an offensive play,” Johnson said. “But I didn’t think it would go that way — on the defensive side of the ball.”

By the end of the game, however, Johnson’s maiden trip to the end zone was nearly a distant memory.

That’s because he scored two more touchdowns — of 24 yards and 39 yards, respectively — both on passes from quarterback Brady Weingart.

Weingart was crisp and efficient, completing seven of 12 passes for 182 yards.

And senior running back Tino Starbird also had a memorable day.

Starbird carried the ball nine times for 104 yards and three touchdowns. He added two catches for 60 yards including a 35-yarder for a score — the first of eight touchdowns for the Giants.

Despite the blazing start on the season, Talley still sees plenty of room for improvement.

“We need to cut down on some of the mental mistakes, mostly just some penalties we don’t need to take,” Talley said. “The good side of that is that the mistakes we’re making are all fixable.”