When game time rolls around, Redmond High’s football players focus on one thing only: do your job.
Head coach Jason Rimkus said that’s been the Mustangs’ motto for years and the team is especially excited to put that phrase into play against 3A KingCo foe Lake Washington at 7 p.m. this Friday on the Mustangs’ home turf.
Redmond is 1-3 in nonconference contests and Lake Washington is 4-0 in nonconference games heading into the league opener for both teams.
LW running back Ryan Clifford said when the league unveiled the schedule, the Kangs marked the Redmond game on their calendars because they wanted to avenge last year’s 28-27 double-overtime loss to the Mustangs.
Redmond quarterback Teryn Berry — who is coming off a four-touchdown passing game in last Friday’s 38-20 win over Heritage — said some talk has been going around the Redmond and Kirkland schools about the rematch and how the Mustangs prevailed last year.
At practice on Tuesday, Berry said the Mustangs weren’t letting the hype affect their preparation for the game.
He said Redmond will “play our brand of football and I echo that to my teammates. Being hungry for them, ready to play, ready to hit.”
Against Heritage, Berry was 15-for-20 for 221 yards with three scoring strikes to Bradley Cagle (25, 26 and 35 yards) and one to Nikhil Jatekar (28 yards).
Berry is feeling good coming off the Heritage matchup and heading into the LW game.
“I just have good receivers. I put the ball out there and they make plays,” said Berry, noting that the rest of the offensive and defensive corps are playing tough and getting better every day.
Also for Redmond against Heritage, Carson Bruener carried the ball 16 times for 106 yards and a 7-yard touchdown, and kicker Jacen Stein nailed a 32-yard field goal and five PATs. Matthew Janetzki rushed the ball nine times for 80 yards, Cagle had four catches for 104 yards and Jatekar had five catches for 60 yards.
Defensively for Redmond, Joseph O’Hanlon had 5.5 tackles, Janetzki and Emmanuel Tamayo had one interception each and Braeden Buchanan and Cagle had one sack each.
Redmond — which led 17-0 at halftime and 31-8 after three quarters — produced 425 total yards to Heritage’s 326.
Rimkus’ squad features just four senior starters, and the coach said the underclassmen are working hard on their games each week.
“They’re growing exponentially. It’s fun to see them grow,” said Rimkus, who praised sophomore running backs Bruener and Janetzki and junior rusher Jeremy Hernandez. The Mustangs ran for more than 200 yards against Heritage after producing less than 300 yards combined rushing in its first three games.
The Mustangs played some solid teams to prepare them for LW, Rimkus said, adding that the road trip to Vancouver to play Heritage was a great experience. They’re not worrying about their opponent’s record or the glare of the stadium lights this Friday, the coach continued, they’re just set on doing their job.
“It’s gonna be a fun and intense game against two well-coached teams,” Rimkus said.
