The playoffs are not supposed to be easy.

Along with better competition comes the human nature of perhaps looking ahead to the next week, where an even tougher opponent awaits.

Those postseason challenges were on display for the Woodland Christian varsity football team Friday night. Still, in the end, it didn’t matter as the Cardinals were able to crank up the intensity in the second half to pull away from the visiting Liberty Ranch to defeat them 21-7 and advance to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI semifinals next week.

“I think we underestimated them a little bit, but at the end of the day, we came out with the win, and that’s all that matters,” Woodland Christian senior Devin Herrera said.

Teams spend the entire summer and fall working towards making a playoff appearance. The Cardinals have a little bit extra on the line as they look to repeat as not only section champions but state champions as well. Any team can have a down week, but the great teams find a way to win even when things aren’t going according to plan.

While this season has been going to plan, except for a week one loss to Bradshaw Christian, the Cardinals battled back through some adversity thanks to two second-half Herrera touchdowns.

“Boneheaded mistakes to start the game hurt us,” Cardinals head coach Mike Paschke said. “I also think we were a little lax out there. The defense came out great, so it must fall on me because the offense was the side that was struggling. Tonight was not my best night, but the defense was on it and top-notch. I just feel super fortunate to get this win.”

The Cardinals entered the quarterfinal match following a 6-0 undefeated season in the Sierra Delta League, which earned them a No. 2 overall seed in D6 and a much-needed first-round bye.

Liberty Ranch earned the No. 7 seed in D6 after a 5-2 season in the Sierra Valley Conference. Key victories for the Hawks included a 41-6 win over Rosemont and a 49-0 win over Galt. That seeding was enough for an opening-round playoff game where they were able to easily defeat Ripon 35-0.

The Cardinals got off to a fast start as Noah Hinkle led off the scoring with an electric 19-yard touchdown run on their second possession.

After trading punts or turnovers on downs a handful of times, the Hawks tied it up at 7-7 thanks to an 8-yard rush from running back Joseph Brown.

Despite the usually high scoring the Hawks and Cardinals were accustomed to, a Cardinals interception at the goalline led to a Liberty Ranch kneeling down as both teams headed into the halftime break knotted up at 7. p

That lack of scoring carried through the third quarter as the Cardinals either dropped passes for easy scores or first downs or fumbled the snap on a punt attempt. Despite the sloppy and lackadaisical play, the score remained the same until the start of the fourth quarter.

To kick off the final 12 minutes, the Cardinals converted a tough fourth down attempt to keep their pivotal drive alive. Either through the air on crossing routes or on the ground the hard way, Herrera was on a mission to get the Cardinals into the endzone.

Once inside the 20, Herrera began taking direct snaps from the shotgun. Once he mauled his way to the 1-yard line, he took another direct snap for the easiest touchdown he’ll score all season to go up 13 and then 14-7.

“Our offensive line, props to them,” Herrera reflected. “Without them, we ain’t doing nothing. I give it all to my teammates. I don’t take any credit for myself. Even if I’m the one who’s making the big plays, it’s all to my teammates. Props to all of them tonight.”

After Liberty Ranch turned the ball over on downs, the Cardinals sensed the game was there for the taking and went right back to Herrera.

Following a fantastic run in which he broke four tackles to get to the 1-yard line, Herrera was rewarded with another playoff touchdown to take a seemingly insurmountable 20 and then 21-7 lead.

From there, the Cardinals’ defense got the ball back after another turnover on downs. With about six minutes to go in the game, the home side had one objective: milk the clock and get out of there with a win.

Faced with one more obstacle, another fourth down attempt, the Cardinals went right back to Herrera, who picked up the final first down with about two minutes left in the game. From there, a few kneel-downs sealed the victory.

“They are a really quiet and confident bunch,” Paschke said. “I was going to punt there on that last fourth down, but all of the offensive linemen were like, ‘Come on coach, you don’t punt,’ so I went for it, and we got it. The players really stepped up at the end and made the big plays we were missing in the first half.”

Up next for the Cardinals will be another home playoff game against D6 No. 3 seed Sonora. That game is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Woodland Christian.

“Sonora is better than Liberty Ranch,” Paschke said. “We will have to up our game quite a bit to take home the win against them. We got caught flat-footed tonight but need to go look in the mirror and need to come out from start to finish.”

“We need better execution next week,” Herrera said. “We gotta watch film too, it’s very important. Let’s keep this going.”