Fifty years ago, New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over til it’s over!”

That quote could not be any more true for the Woodland Christian High School varsity football team regarding their 15-14 season-opening win on Friday night at Justin Smith Field. The Cardinals (1-0) trailed Bradshaw Christian 14-0 with 9:15 left in the game but the team never lost faith.

The game was a defensive battle in the first half as the teams traded turnover on downs and went into halftime scoreless. That didn’t last long as The Pride returned the second half kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown by junior wideback Isaiah Ledesma. Following a successful point after attempt by senior kicker Hanneh Little, Bradshaw Christian led 7-0 only 14 seconds into the third quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Woodland Christian drove all the way down the field. However, the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs from The Pride’s 11-yard line. Bradshaw Christian led 7-0 after three periods.

“In the beginning it was tough. We were driving but towards the end we couldn’t punch it in,” said senior quarterback Gabe Sanchez. “We got our minds right in the second half. I know how to take the leadership role and just get my team to where we needed to be. We worked hard and we know we have to put our all in to it because we’re playing both sides the whole game.”

The Pride appeared to seize control of the game to begin the fourth, sparked by a 35-yard completion from junior quarterback Ethan Rickert to junior tight end Devyn McDonald. On 4th & goal from the 11-yard line, Woodland Christian nearly got the sack before Rickert escaped and rolled out to his right.Junior defensive end Zander Gimenez almost sacked Rickert by the sideline but the junior got his throw off just in time and completed it to McDonald for the touchdown in the back right corner of the end zone. After a good PAT, Bradshaw Christian led 14-0 with just over nine minutes to play.

“I take some of the heat, maybe I try to come out and grind it too much,” Paschke admitted. “I wanted to punch Bradshaw in the mouth because I knew they were going to punch us in the mouth. Then we said, ‘We’re just going to open it up,’ we have one younger lineman, double team that D-end and kind of just let Gabe be Gabe.”

The Cardinals started their next drive in good field position on their own 43-yard line. Sanchez, who also plays cornerback, got his team going with a 20-yard rush followed by a 19-yard catch and run by sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Hunt.

Sanchez capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run up the middle. Junior kicker William Kuykendall nailed the extra point kick to cut The Pride’s lead in half at 14-7. Woodland Christian scored quickly in only 58 seconds of game-time.

Bradshaw Christian began driving down the field again until a costly turnover on a crucial third down attempt. Gimenez reacted jubilantly as the Cardinals recovered the fumble and the contest suddenly shifted.

“I knew as soon as we got that fumble, this game was ours. Once we get a little momentum, it’s over. Our crowd gets riled up, we feel that energy here, then we’re gone,” Gimenez proclaimed. “Don’t count us out til that buzzer goes off!”

With injuries affecting Woodland Christian’s depth chart, Gimenez was one of three linemen who played both offense and defense on Friday evening along with seniors Noah Rico and Shane Osborne.

“I was just really proud of the three big linemen. We knew Bradshaw was going to give us everything that we could handle. Our guys have to play both ways. It was just a great battle by the linemen,” Paschke explained. “Then of course Gabe Sanchez made the big plays when we needed them.”

Following the turnover, Sanchez then completed a pass to junior running back Noah Hinkle who broke away for a 41-yard gain. However, Woodland Christian failed to capitalize. Junior wideout Carter Lang dropped what would’ve been a seven-yard touchdown reception in the back-right corner of the end zone.

The Cardinals went for it on 4th & goal from the seven-yard line with 3:33 to go. Sanchez was nearly sacked but got the ball away for an incompletion and ultimately, another turnover on downs.

Deep in their own territory, The Pride were forced to punt from the eight-yard line on 4th & 9. Sanchez caught the punt and called for a fair catch at Bradshaw Christian’s 30-yard line with 2:15 remaining.

Junior wide receiver Ethan Johns immediately caught a pass from Sanchez for a gain of 16 yards. Lang redeemed himself by catching a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez. Woodland Christian played for the win and went for two rather than kicking the PAT to tie the game. Sanchez made it look easy, rushing right up the middle and into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion. The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 15-14 with 1:49 left.

The Woodland Christian crowd was subdued for most of the evening but the Cardinal faithful came alive late in the game as the team ignited a “DE-FENSE” chant. The Pride advanced into Woodland Christian territory but it was all for naught as the Cardinals held on for the narrow comeback victory.

Gimenez credited Sanchez for motivating the team at intermission.

“There was a lot of adversity that we’ve been preparing for the last two weeks,” Gimenez recalled. “At halftime Gabe Sanchez, a big leader on the team, he rallied everybody together to try and keep our composure on the field and we ended up coming back. It took a lot of us, we’re (missing) linemen, but we’ve been conditioning for that. The three of us went pretty much the whole game and we’re gassed, but it happened.”

Woodland Christian will head to Placerville for its game next week against El Dorado (0-1). The Cougars lost their first game 35-21 against Ponderosa. Kickoff on Friday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“We were able to hold up four quarters against Bradshaw who just beats you up. They are physical, that’s why we scheduled them,” Paschke said. “I thought we were going to have a tough time being able to stop them. The defense stopped them way more than I could ever ask for. So the offense needs to pick it up.”