After a 1-3 start to the season, many believed Ripon’s Varsity football season was over. The coaches and players knew though they could bounce back after showing potential in their loss to Hughson. On Sept. 28, the Varsity football team put on their best performance of the season with a 28-0 win against Modesto High. There were still many things the team needed to improve on, but this win gave them the momentum they needed for the remainder of the season.
In previous games, their offense has struggled to be able to consistently get near the redzone. On the first drive of the game, it seemed that would be the same case. However, after a momentum swing from the defense with a fumble, the offense was able to mount their first scoring drive. After that, the offense struggled with penalties the entire game, taking away several big plays by the offense and forcing punts on many drives. Thankfully, the offense was consistently put in good positions by the defense, allowing the offense to get 21 points by the end of the first half. By the second half, the offense struggled to get points, but halfway through the fourth quarter, the offense had one final scoring drive to get a total of 28 points. 
Meanwhile, the defense had an amazing performance. The defense didn’t allow Modesto High to get a single point, having their first shutout game of the season. The defense forced several punts and multiple turnovers the entire game. On the night of Sept. 20 against Hughson, the defense got tired in the fourth quarter, stopping a RHS comeback. However, the defense held strong all night, and didn’t allow Modesto to come back.
Senior Gustavo Nungaray, stated when asked about the big win, “It felt good, I feel we didn’t play up to our full potential but we got the win. After two losses, we had to start our run here, and we had to start a run to make the playoffs.”
This game was the spark the RHS Varsity team needed in order to have a chance to make the playoffs. The offense still needs work on getting scoring drives consistently, but if they do that and the defense continues to dominate as they have been, the skies the limit for the RHS Varsity football team.
