Red Oak shuts out Riverside
RED OAK — The Red Oak football team began the home season with a big win Friday.
The Tigers (1-1 overall) shutout Riverside 39-0 Friday night at Russ Benda Field to get the home opener victory.
“I thought the boys did very well. We’ve definitely come a long ways with the style of play we want to play,” Red Oak Football Coach Barry Bower said. “They executed well.”
The night belonged to Brock Isaacson and his starting offensive line, though. With his blockers helping out, Isaacson rushed for a career-high 312 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.
“It was pretty well-balanced,” Bower said. “Brock started it off and kept going. He had a wonderful night. When somebody’s having a heck of a night, you’ve got to keep feeding them.”
Bower credits the blockers, both on the offensive line and the receivers, with setting up the opportunities for Red Oak to run the ball.
“I think a lot of credit goes to those guys and the wide receivers that block on the perimeter to make sure he has good cutback lanes. Some of those were gaping holes and you got to give credit to the 10 other guys and Brock will be the first one to admit that,” Bower said.
Isaacson scored his first touchdown with 4:44 to go in the first quarter on a 67-yard run. Quarterback Carlos Guerra converted the two-point play and Red Oak took a 14-0 lead.
Guerra helped score the first points earlier in the quarter when he completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Conner Jansky.
Isaacson’s other touchdown came midway through the third quarter when he scored on a 17-yard run. It was the final touchdown of the game for Red Oak as it helped them get a running clock going for the remainder of the second half.
After two games, Isaacson currently sits at the top of 2A-District 8 in rushing. The junior has rushed for 417 yards on 45 carries with two touchdowns.
The next highest rusher is Nick Snyder of East Sac County, who has 244 yards on 47 carries.
The next highest rusher is Nick Snyder of East Sac County, who has 244 yards on 47 carries.
Red Oak had points scored elsewhere by Guerra and Tanner Mertz. Guerra scored twice on quarterback keepers in the second quarter.
The first score came with 10:37 left on a five-yard run. The Tigers made the extra-point and led 21-0. Guerra scored again with two seconds left until halftime on a one-yard keeper. Red Oak missed the PAT, but went into halftime with a 27-0 lead.
Mertz scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run with 9:02 left in the third quarter. The Tigers missed the extra point, but led 33-0.
Mertz had four carries for seven yards.
The Tigers had ground yards from Hayden VanMeter (53 yards), as well as Connor Johnson, who had 26.
Cam Pryor had 22 yards rushing, while Guerra had 19 yards on five carries.
Red Oak had 442 yards rushing in the victory.
Penalties were an issue for Red Oak as they were penalized 17 times for 147 yards. By comparison, Riverside was penalized seven times in the game for 56 yards.
“We just have to do some of the little things to stay away from the penalties,” Bower said.
Red Oak faces a big test this Friday as they open the district portion of their season on the road versus heated-rival Shenandoah.
It’s the earliest the two teams have played each other since the 2011 season when they played in week two.
Despite the change in the schedule, it’s still an important game.
The last two years, both squads have faced off in the final week of the season with a postseason berth on the line. In both instances, Red Oak won the game and advanced to the playoffs. Last season, it was Jansky who caught the big touchdown pass and helped Red Oak advance to the playoffs for a second straight season.
“This happens to be our first district game. We’re on the road, it’s a rivalry. I think you always take importance to that and that’s what we’re going to do this week,” Bower said. “I think our kids are hungry. They’re hungry for success. I think they’re hungry to execute well.”
Shenandoah enters district play with a 1-1 record. They lost Friday night in their home opener 42-14 to Mount Ayr.
The game starts at 7 p.m. in Shenandoah.