The offense was never the problem for Justin-Siena High’s football team.

It was the defense that started slowly, then turned things around to save the Braves’ season.

The defending section champion Braves started with four straight losses.

They’ve rallied to win three of their last four and earn a spot in the thick of the race for a North Coast Section Division IV football playoff berth.

Justin gave up an average of 36.7 points per game in three non-conference losses and the situation seemed dire. It appeared the Braves were facing a nightmarish season.

“That threat was there after every game we lost,” admitted senior linebacker Tom Croft. “We knew we needed to get better. We weren’t really playing together.”

After a loss to Marin County Athletic Conference leader Marin Catholic, the Braves (3-2 MCAL, 3-5 overall) began to turn things around. They shut down San Rafael, 42-6, and whipped San Marin, 34-14. Tamalpais fell 37-14.

The defense that couldn’t stop anybody held foes to 11.3 points per game in the three-game streak.

“We finally got to the point that we trusted each other,” said 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive end Tom Keown. “We started to play with more focus.”

The Braves need to maintain that focus over the final two games of the season, beginning on Friday when Redwood visits Dodd Stadium at 7 p.m.

They need two wins to finish with the overall .500 record needed to qualify for an NCS Div. IV at-large berth.

“If we get to .500, I don’t see how they can keep us out,” Justin-Siena head coach Rich Cotruvo said.

The players know how important Friday’s game will be.

“The playoffs start for us against Redwood,” said senior defensive back Hayden Hullana, one of the team’s leading tacklers and most consistent performers. “We can’t lose another game or our season’s over.”

Keown agreed.

“If we don’t win Friday and then next week, there won’t even be playoffs to think about,” the senior said.

After the win over Tamalpais, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Steve Vargus acknowledged that the defense had arrived.

“They were just a really inexperienced group at the beginning of the season,” Vargus said. “Now, we’re able to do almost everything we were able to do with last year’s defense.”

The 2008 Braves featured a bigger, more athletic group of defenders.

“We’re smaller and faster,” Hullana said, admitting that the defense wasn’t really able to do everything Vargus wanted “until we started winning. Before that, we weren’t playing as a unit.”

Croft, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound inside backer, also mentioned team unity’s role in the defensive turnaround.

“Now, we’re 11 guys playing together,” he said of a unit that has also been sparked by leading running backs Orion Kamins and Wes Connolly, two quick linebackers who are suited to the approach Vargus has coached for years.

The Braves’ defensive plan is simple, but from the simplicity comes linebackers stunting from all angles.

“The defensive linemen are supposed to stay in their spot and hold our ground,” Keown said. “We’re supposed to open gaps for the linebackers to make plays ... and they have been making plays.”

The pass defense was shoddy early in the season, but has been solid lately.

Hullana was forced to spend so much time in run support that he and the other defensive backs were susceptible to the deep pass.

“Once the secondary was able to trust the line to do its job and the linebackers to do their job, we were able to stop the pass better,” Hullana said.

“Now, everybody’s making plays.  It’s not hit-and-miss now.”

• The defense will again be without 6-foot-4, 265-pound tackle Jeff Dunbar. He’s injured and on crutches. Spencer Joske, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior, will again assume Dunbar’s role after spending most of the year at linebacker.

Starting offensive guard Kyle Kray will also miss Friday’s game due to injury.

• The Braves will finish the regular season Nov. 14 at San Rafael against Terra Linda.