Redmond Football Looking for First Winning Season in Four Years

If one were to look at only the non-league portion of the Redmond football teams’ schedule in 2010, they might come away with the idea that the Mustangs were a pretty good football team. 4-1 record, good offensive output and the ability to win close games.

Unfortunately for the Redmond football program, the in-league portion of the schedule was not as pretty. And this year looks like it could bring more of the same.

Redmond will begin the 2011 season looking to post its first winning record since 2007. Awaiting the Mustangs is one of the more brutal schedules in the state. The team has eight games on the schedule for the 2011 season—five against teams that qualified for the state tournament in 2010. In addition to KingCo foes Newport, Eastlake, Issaquah and Skyline, Redmond will also face off against 3A state qualifier Juanita in the season opener this Friday.

Against those same five teams in 2010, the Mustangs went 0-5 and were outscored 211-30.

There were encouraging signs toward the end of the last season, however. The Mustangs rebounded from the brutal four-game KingCo stretch to beat Ballard and a good Edmonds-Woodway team to end the season at 4-5.

The biggest problem facing Redmond is one familiar to the Mustangs. Redmond will have just 10 seniors on the roster in 2011, after having just 12 in 2010. Some of their opponents will start more seniors than the Mustangs have on the entire team. Redmond also lost a big-time contributor in quarterback Michael Conforto, who graduated last year and is now playing baseball at Oregon State. The lack of seniors to fill roster spots means plenty of sophomores getting playing time, perhaps before they’re ready.

The good news for the Mustangs is that the seniors that are on the roster are expected to contribute in big ways. Wide receiver Nickolaj La Cour showed ample flashes in 2010, leading the Mustangs in receiving yards in multiple games, while 6-foot-6 Connor Floan should contribute at the tight end position.

The success of the 2011 season will ultimately come down to how Redmond fares against its tough KingCo opponents. But after a strong finish to 2010, the Mustangs seem ready for the challenge.