Castaic Coyotes football fell just short of a comeback in its season opener on Friday at Adelanto High School.
The Adelanto Saints scored 19 unanswered points in the first half and managed to hold off the Coyotes just enough to win the game, 30-21.
Castaic (0-1) went up 7-0 on a TD reception from Paul Lotz before things got away from the Coyotes.
Coyotes head coach Sirr Guy Shakir had plenty of positive takeaways from his return to CIF sports.
“There were some good things but a ton of things we have to get better at,” Shakir said in a phone interview. “We have to show more discipline. We had some self-inflicted wounds that we have to clean up and be better for next week.”
Castaic went down 22-7 before finding momentum and scoring 14 unanswered to cut the lead to 22-21. The team went for two-point conversions all night but just missed on a chance to take the lead.
Adelanto’s three-star athlete Shakir Collins couldn’t be stopped on the ground. Collins ran wild and finished with 11 carries for 211 yards with one touchdown. Collins also led his defense with seven tackles.
The Saints retook control of the game in the fourth quarter and held Castaic scoreless for the remainder of the opener.
The Coyotes’ 2023 debut was a special one for running back Monty Coleman. He was asked to step up at defensive end, a position he had never played before, and finished the night with two sacks.
“Monty Coleman, we had to switch him and he really stood out, everybody noticed,” Shakir said. “He moved around and played positions he’s never played before. He showed the type of grit we want in our program and had a couple of sacks. Hopefully he can build on that and be the type of player we know he’s capable of being.”
Coleman and quarterback Tyler Lewis both added rushing scores on offense.
Castaic is on to week two where the team will look for its first home victory in its brief program history. The Coyotes take on the Royal Highlanders on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Canyon High School.
Royal is coming off a 60-0 loss to the City Section champion Birmingham Patriots.
“We have to be more disciplined, and we’ve got a quick turnaround,” Shakir said. “Royal is very physical, they’re very well-coached and they showed a lot of discipline even in a game that got away from them. We’re going to have to play better than we did last week to compete with them.”
