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RED BLUFF — This time the Spartans made sure that they kept the lead — and in emphatic fashion too.

Quarterback Collin Ramirez and running back Zach Schwabauer ran for two scores apiece as the Red Bluff High School football team beat Chico 35-7 at Spartan Stadium on Friday.

After suffering close defeats to Shasta and Enterprise, games in which Red Bluff (1-2 Eastern Athletic League, 3-3) gave up early leads, the Spartans were determined to hold on to whatever advantage they had against the Panthers (2-1 EAL, 4-2).

"The theme all week was to finish," Ramirez said. "This was a huge win for us. Just coming up short in those losses were killing us."

Red Bluff did it by showcasing its dangerous offense and stifling a Panthers team that came into the game on a four-game winning streak.

But Chico hadn't run into as balanced an offensive attack as the one the Spartans possess. After Schwabauer gouged them with runs of 24 and 11 yards on his first two carries, the Panthers spent much of the night putting eight defenders in the box.

While they managed to slow the junior down somewhat, Schwabauer still finished with 98 yards on 24 carries.

But by ganging up on one key element of the Spartans offense left Chico open to other weapons. Ramirez's two running scores came on option plays. The Panthers also spent the game in single man coverage, allowing Ramirez to pass the ball. He went 8-of-15 for 204 yards.

"We had a game plan," Panthers coach Jason Alvistur said. "We wanted to put pressure on their quarterback, but it didn't work out."

Not when Ramirez was taking five-step drops then lofting the ball to senior Cole McKenzie on streak routes against man coverage. Three times, the senior duo hooked up that way for big gains. All three times, Red Bluff would go on to punch the ball into the end zone.

McKenzie finished with five catches for 167 yards. The last reception was a 12-yard touchdown pass on a fade route to the left corner of the end zone from Ramirez with 7:56 left in the fourth quarter for the game's final points.

"I throw it and he (McKenzie) goes and gets it," Ramirez said.

The play was the exclamation point to Red Bluff's determination in ending its recent second-half struggles. The Spartans led Shasta until giving up the game's winning touchdown drive in the final minute. Red Bluff led at Enterprise halftime last week, only to lose again.

"We told the kids to believe in themselves," Spartans head coach John Schwabauer said. "I felt we had played too well to lose the two previous games so we needed to come out and redeem ourselves."

Chico opened the game with an extended drive that lasted seven and half minutes, but Red Bluff stopped the Panthers on a third fourth-down attempt.

The Spartans then had what would have been a 27-yard touchdown pass from Ramirez to Schwabauer nullified by a holding call on their first offensive possession.

But Red Bluff got the ball in great field position the next time, at the Chico 41-yard line, after its defense forced a three-and-out. Ramirez found McKenzie down the left side for 35 yards and then ran the option for an 8-yard scoring run on the next play with 9:45 left in the second quarter.

Schwabauer then intercepted a Nate Anderson pass and returned it 15 yards to the Panthers 25. That set up Ramirez's 3-yard run with 4:39 left.

On Chico's next play, sophomore running back Jamiel Hardman took an option pitch and went 40 yards before getting chased down from behind by McKenzie, who was playing cornerback. The touchdown-saving tackle was crucial as Chico failed to score on fourth-and-goal from the 10 when Anderson's pass to Kayhan Karatekeli bounced off the senior fullback's hands, then his face mask and fell incomplete.

Given a 14-0 lead heading into the second half, Red Bluff did what it couldn't do the two previous weeks: add to its advantage.

The Ramirez-McKenzie combo worked again for a 53-yard pass play on the Spartans' opening third-quarter drive. That set up Schwabauer's 9-yard TD run on a sweep to the right side.

Chico would its only score of the night two minutes later on Anderson's 1-yard sneak. The touchdown was set up by Anderson's 64-yard catch and run to Ian Boyer.

But that was the extend of Chico's offense. Anderson was 7-of-18 for 117 yards. Hardman had 87 yards on 18 carries.

"We weren't consistent enough on offense tonight," Alvistur said.

The Spartans answered with a seven-play, 65-yard drive ending on Schwabauer's 6-yard scoring run with 8.7 seconds left in the third quarter to go back up 28-7.

Reporter Jeffrey Jen can be reached at 225-8228 or jjen@redding.com.