Karen Marroquin & Victor Corral Martinez
Signal Staff Writers
Hart High School graduate Trent Irwin is on his way to the Super Bowl, two years after signing with the Cincinnati Bengals as a free agent.
Keith Matkin, Hart’s co-athletic director who was on the football coaching staff while Irwin played at Hart, is looking forward to watching him play in the nation’s most-watched sports event.
“It is awesome. Trent has always been a hard worker on and off the field,” Matkin said. “His commitment to football is largely unrivaled around Hart, including having worked on the chain gang for a couple of games his brother played in last year.”
The 6-foot-2 Irwin played wide receiver at Hart. During his high school career, he won many honors in the greater Los Angeles area for being player of the year and became a top 100 prospect in California. He completed his senior year with 61 total touchdowns, 57 of those being receiving touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.com.
Additionally, Irwin logged 5,258 yards in receiving and saw 285 catches. He averaged 18.5 yards per catch and 103.3 receiving yards per game.
In 2015, Irwin committed to Stanford as a wide receiver. According to Stanford athletics, he was a three-time Pac-12 academic honorable mention, had 152 receptions for 1,738 yards and five touchdowns in 53 career games. Irwin also had 22 punt returns for 230 yards, averaging 10.5 yards per return.
In September 2021, Irwin was signed to the Bengals’ active roster and received his first professional catch for a 25-yard gain against the Jacksonville Jaguars
All of Irwin’s work has led him to where he is today, and Matkin says it’s to be expected.
“It is no surprise he has this opportunity and we are all rooting for him.”
The Super Bowl is scheduled Feb. 13 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Bengals will be competing against the L.A. Rams.
