Coming off a tough 21-7 loss to Newport last Friday, the Redmond High football team looks to bounce back against a formidable foe in Issaquah tonight at home in a key 4A Kingco Crest Division contest. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Redmond enters tonight’s game with a 1-1 record in division play and 1-3 overall. Issaquah, which is 2-0 and 3-2, slipped past Eastlake, 14-13 last week. The Mustangs upset the Wolves, 24-21, back on Oct. 2.

“All games are huge in our division, because a win in any of them can do so much positive to your positioning in the standings,” said Redmond coach Mike Pluschke. “So the Issaquah game does mark the opportunity to solidify ourselves as one of the three teams to be playing for something big in week nine.”

The Mustangs will aim to contain the Eagles’ star quarterback Ryan Bergman, who has passed for 756 yards on 54 completions in his first four starts of the season.

Pluschke said that the Mustangs need to play a physical brand of football to beat the Eagles.

“We need to make this the most physical game that Issaquah has played to date and take it to them from the opening kickoff to the final horn,” he said.

Last week, the Mustangs were not able to duplicate the magic they had the week before against Eastlake during a 21-7 loss to the Knights in division contest.

The Mustangs used a powerful running attack to beat the Wolves two weeks ago, but Newport held Mustangs in check last Friday.

The Knights’ defensive line provided a big road block for the Mustangs running game as Newport held Mustangs’ quarterback Michael Conforto to just 26 yards rushing on 18 attempts and one touchdown — a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter to cap off an 82-yard drive.

Running back Cole Hardwick rushed for a team-high 96 yards for the Mustangs (1-1 in division play, 1-4 overall).

Newport (1-1, 3-2), led by senior quarterback Ross Quarre, scored in the first quarter on a 9-yard run and later Quarre launched a 31-yard bomb to running back Nick Clifford to put the Knights up 14-0.

Using a relentless running game — Newport rushed 47 times for 166 yards — the Knights were able to dominate the game on time of possession as the Mustangs held the ball for less than 10 minutes of the 48-minute contest.

“We had a lot of trouble executing against the Newport blitz scheme and we will work especially hard on picking up blitzes and running our stuff,” said Pluschke, adding that Newport chose to take away the quarterback and wings on Redmond’s offense. “We will continue to work the triple option and force defenses to try to defend the whole field.”

With the two-minute warning approaching in the fourth quarter and Newport clinging to a 14-7 lead, the Knights sealed the win by going the length of the field on a 10-play, 99-yard drive for their final score.