By Matt Lechuga
For The Signal
There will be no moral victories for the Castaic football team as they were outmuscled by host Calabasas 48-12 in the Battle of the Coyotes.
Castaic struggled to stop the Calabasas rush attack in its first road game of the season, giving up just over 300 yards and six touchdowns to the (other) Coyotes run game.
“We didn’t play physical at all,” said Castaic head coach Sirr Guy Shakir. “That’s literally what it is. We didn’t show up with that mindset today.”
Castaic’s first drive stalled when starting quarterback Jayden Broderick was picked off by Calabasas’ Tanner Magbanua. Five plays later Calabasas running back Kayne Miller dove in from 1 yard out to give Calabasas a 7-0 lead. Miller was a headache for the Castaic defense all night, leading Calabasas on the ground with 15 carries for 170 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Castaic seemed to find some footing on its second drive, going 80 yards on 15 plays, capped by a 3-yard Broderick rush for the score. However, a missed PAT kept Castaic trailing by a point.
But from there Calabasas went on to score 34 unanswered points to put away any thoughts of Castaic staying in the game.
Two touchdowns by Miller from 2 and 13 yards out and another 1-yard TD from Kingston Celifie gave Calabasas a 28-6 lead going into the half.
“For us, it’s just a matter of were we better today than we were yesterday and we weren’t,” said Shakir. “And today we went against a team, they did well and executed what they wanted to do, but we didn’t give them enough pushback to keep this game competitive.”
Calabasas extended its lead in the third quarter on two huge plays, a 41-yard scoring run from Miller and an 82-yard pass from Dominik Hardy to Dezmyn Hardy to make the score 41-6.
Castaic’s lone highlight came next when Monty Coleman took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to make it 41-12. The thrill was short-lived, however, as on Calabasas’ next series, Celifie took a handoff off the left side, broke through the Castaic defense, cut back to the right, and scored from 68 yards out to make the final score of 48-12.
“We just have to keep a clear mind,” said Coleman. “We win together, and we lose together. In practice tomorrow we just have to make sure everyone is on the same page and doing what they’re supposed to.”
No doubt it’ll be a tough film session for the Coyotes, but it’s needed to learn from Friday’s mistakes.
“[Tomorrow’s film session] is going to be open, honest, and transparent,” said Shakir. “I think we have a good enough rapport with our kids that they know where we’re coming from. We can have those difficult conversations, and tomorrow will be one of those.”
Castaic will look to bounce back when they host San Joaquin Memorial next Friday.
