The Corsairs are making a habit of playing close games this year.

Unfortunately, not all of them are going their way.

On Saturday afternoon, College of the Redwoods saw a blistering start to the game go to waste in a 35-33 loss at Contra Costa.

It was CR’s third straight game decided by three or less points, having lost to Hartnell 28-27 a week ago after beating Gavilan 32-29 on September 14.

“I thought we played sloppy,” CR head coach Frank Borba said afterwards. “We turned the ball over a couple of times. Defensively we were missing tackles, we gave up a couple of long balls.

“And Contra Costa played well. Their quarterback put the ball in spots for them to succeed.

“But I was happy with our effort. We’ve just got to clean up the execution.”

The Corsairs came out of the starting gates on fire, opening up a quick 21-0 advantage just five minutes in.

For the game, QB Brody Lucero passed for three touchdowns, two to Jamari Sweet and one to Marcus Finney.

Final stats weren’t immediately available, but both receivers had over 100 yards, with Sweet also returning a kickoff deep into Contra Costa territory to set up one of two Roberto Ortiz field goals.

Zachary Mahoney scored CR’s third touchdown of the game after blocking a Contra Costa punt, scooping up the ball and returning it to the end zone.

After the fast start, however, Redwoods saw the momentum slip away when the home team put up two quick touchdowns, the second after recovering a kickoff to the Corsairs in swirling wind.

The Corsairs return home to play DeAnza at the Redwood Bowl next Saturday.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.