Redmond falls short in opener

The Mustangs of Prosser capitalized on Redmond’s special teams mistakes last Friday as they came from behind to beat Redmond, 34-29, at Walter Seabloom Field.

The game got off to a promising start for the home team, highlighted by starting quarterback David Gilbertson throwing bullets across the field and connecting with his receivers. Redmond led 19-6 early in the second quarter, on the heels of a 54-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Michael Conforto.

Gilbertson had strong performance to kick off the season, going 20-for-29 with 313 yards and three touchdowns.

“David is David, man,” said Redmond head coach Mike Pluschke about his star quarterback. “He threw a couple laser beams that were just on the money, and people question if high school quarterbacks, do they have the arm to throw, and if they know all the throws on the field, you saw it tonight.”

However, the Mustangs could not overcome the potent offensive duo of Prosser quarterback Jordan Durbin, who threw for an unprecedented 60 touchdowns last season, and all-state receiver Kirby Moore, who needs 19 more touchdowns this season to break the national high school record of 83 for a prep career.

“I think they were excited about the things they could do with Kirby,” Pluschke said. “We had Cameron Sandquist on him, and Cameron is one of the best defensive backs in the state, I’d put him up against anybody. ... He was breaking on the football really well, and making hits on Kirby as he was catching the ball.

Durbin was a key piece to Prosser’s second-half run, seemingly figuring out Redmond’s formations.

“We did a good job (defensively) with everybody else until Durbin started sliding out in the pocket,” Pluschke said. “He was a critical piece in the second half—he made some plays that really kept drives alive for them, and made things turn over.”

Redmond led the whole way until the fourth quarter, when that “third leg” of the team — special teams — backfired and allowed Prosser to make a comeback.

Redmond’s Andrew Rohrbach nailed a 28-yard field goal to give his team a 29-20 lead in the fourth quarter. But Redmond could not earn a first down on their next possession and were forced to punt from deep in their own territory.

The punt attempt, however, was fumbled and recovered by Prosser at Redmond’s 21-yard line, setting up a score that made it 29-26.

The key play of the game occurred only about a minute later, when Prosser defensive end Scott Zediker blocked a Redmond punt attempt and three plays later, Durbin connected with Moore for the pair’s third touchdown play. A two-point conversion gave Prosser a 34-29 lead.

“When you’re down inside your 40-yard-line, you can’t have hindsight because you gotta punt the ball,” said the fifth-year Mustang coach. “We had an unfortunate situation. ... they just had some big guys rushing our smaller sophomore players, we just had some guys there that weren’t experienced.”

While Pluschke said that some “big corrections” are in store for Redmond’s special teams, he was pleased overall at the team’s effort in their home opener.

“We played a pretty physical, tough football game tonight. I was excited about our effort, our competitive nature,” he said. “You like playing in this type of game because it gives you the aspect of what it’s like to play a playoff game in week one. You’ve got to be ready to play, and I’m excited about the rest of our season.”

Contact Redmond Reporter Sports Reporter Tim Watanabe at twatanabe@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5054.

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