(San Francisco): 20 years ago, a 7.0 earthquake hit the Bay area.  This week, Coach Dennis Green and the California Redwoods shook up the roster, switching out players faster than a nervous Fantasy Football team owner. 8 new people were added to the roster.

They mixed it up further by benching starting QB Shane Boyd, and going with Mike McMahon.  And if that wasn’t enough, McMahon showed the New York Sentinels every play except the Fumblerooski.

The result?  The Redwoods went to 1-1 in the United Football League, putting them in back in the hunt for the playoffs (there are only 7 games in the regular season, so every win counts) .

McMahon, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2001,  hadn’t played since 2007 when he played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

But he showed no signs of rust, completing 7 of 8 passes for 45 yards and 1 TD.

In his first series, he mixed up screen passes and handoffs. RB Cory Ross took one of those handoffs and ran 30 yards to set up a 1st and goal from the 3.  McMahon hit defensive-lineman-turned-wideout Kai Brown with the TD pass.  The PAT put the Redwoods up 7-0 with just over 5  minutes gone in the first quarter.

Sentinel QB Quinn Gray was stymied by the Redwoods defense in the first quarter, as LB Maurice Crum and DT Pernell Phillips stuffed the run, forcing Gray to go unsuccessfully to the air.  But he found WRs Craphonso Thorpe and ex-Minnesota Viking Koren Robinson in the second quarter and marched 80 yards on 14 plays to tie the game at 7 with a 3-yard pass to RB Chris Barclay.

But the two-year layoff showed in the second quarter as McMahon could not move the Redwoods. The Sentinels got the ball back with 7:25 left and mixed up THEIR playbook, alternating with runs and passes to Barclay and passes to Thorpe and Robinson, which brought them to the Redwoods’ 29 yard line.  Gray then threw a sideline pass to Robinson that would have given the Sentinels a first and goal from the 2, but the play was reviewed and ruled an incomplete pass.

On 3rd and 10 from the Redwoods’ 29 yard line, Quinn made his first error, throwing a pick that was tipped by 3 different Redwoods, finally ending up in DB Marviel Underwood’s hands.

The Redwoods took over at their own 25 yard line but sputtered, going three and out.

The Sentinels took the ensuing punt and started another drive with 3:55 left in the first half.  Gray went back to work, but a dropped pass on 3rd and 3 by WR Jamayel Smith stalled the drive.

From their own 20, with 2:15 left in the half, McMahon went to the air with Ross and WR Doug  Gabriel.  McMahon then launched a bomb that Al Davis would have wept over to WR Joe West, but the Sentinels DB Tony Tiller knocked it away.  WR Glen Holt had the next pass go through his hands, but illegal contact by DB Terrelle Maze gave the Redwoods the ball at the 29.  Ross ran it down to the 15, but the Sentinels D’d up, and sacked McMahon.  McMahon then threw a pick to Tiller with 5 seconds left, ending the half.  It looked like Boyd might get his old job back.

The Redwoods tweaked their playbook in the locker room, and Ross scored his second touchdown of the evening, putting them up 14-7 in the third quarter.

On a series of unfortunate events, namely the revitalized Redwood defense, the Sentinels found themselves turning the ball over on downs repeatedly in the third quarter.  In fact, even as Maze picked off a Simeon Rice-forced McMahon pass to START the third quarter, the Sentinels came away with nothing so much as a field goal, having it come up short on the attempt.

K Parker Douglass put up a 42 yard field goal, making it 17-7 with just over 11:40 to go in the fourth quarter.

Then the Redwoods went to their ground game, eating up over 7 minutes of time on the shoulders of Ross and RB John David Washington. Washington took the ball to the 2, and punched it in 3 plays later, capping the 12 play, 65 yard drive.  The PAT put the Redwoods up 24-7, icing the game and the win.

Gray was replaced by with Ingle Martin a little over 3 minutes left in the game.  After failing to convert a fourth and 2, at 2:26, the Sentinels were done.

Overall, the Redwoods offense looked better than it did last week, racking up 308 total yards.  The newly-added receiving corps looked good as well, beefing up the Redwoods’ passing game.

But if the Redwoods want to topple the 2-0 Florida Tuskers, Coach Green may need to swap out some more players.  Stay tuned.

redwoodsfootball.com

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