Head coach Jason Rimkus believes that when his Redmond High football players implement laser focus on their jobs, good things happen.

It took a little time for the Mustangs’ strength and consistency to come into view against Juanita last Friday night, but the locals eventually found their sweet spot and notched a 28-21 victory in 3A KingCo action.

Redmond’s Carson Bruener scored on a 21-yard run in the fourth quarter to nail down the win scoring-wise.

“It’s hard to pick a single play, but obviously the fourth-down stop on the goal line by our defense was huge,” Rimkus said. “(Up) 28-21 with roughly four minutes to go and we stuff a charging Juanita group and get the ball back – huge.”

Running back Jeremy Hernandez and the offensive line then chewed up yards and the clock for the win, Rimkus added.

Juanita led 7-0 after one quarter and Redmond went up 14-7 at halftime following a Hernandez 3-yard TD run and a Teryn Berry-to-Bradley Cagle 22-yard TD strike.

Juanita tied the score at 14-14 in the third and the Mustangs took a 21-14 lead on another Berry-to-Cagle TD pass, this time for 36 yards. Juanita tied the score at 21-21 later in the third.

Redmond’s Jacen Stein had four PATs, Hernandez ran the ball 24 times for 111 yards, Cagle caught seven passes for 163 yards, Berry was 10-for-20 for 195 yards and Bruener had 10.5 tackles.

Small in stature but big on the toughness scale, Hernandez “is truly symbolic of our team. He’s without question a mentally tough kid, trustworthy and never quits,” said Rimkus, adding that the rusher was the team’s workhorse when other running backs sustained injuries.

As for the gridiron battle, Rimkus said it had a rivalry flair and Juanita showed its grit the whole game.

Redmond (2-1 in league and 3-4 overall) will play at Bellevue at 7:15 p.m. Friday.