The era of the Hawks at Hart High got off to a shaky start Friday night.
Looking to give new head coach Jake Goossen-Brown a win in his first game in charge, the Hawks (0-1) came up short at the end to the Quartz Hill Royals (1-0), 21-13, at College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium.
“I think we did some good stuff tonight,” Goossen-Brown said. “We’re gonna coach our butts off to try to help us to be in better situations in the games later on coming up. But the kids are playing hard, you know, they’re doing all we’re asking to do.”
Quartz Hill was led by quarterback Brody Larey, who was responsible for two touchdowns for the Royals. He ran in the first score of the game late in the first half before connecting with receiver Kevin Johnson late in the second half for an insurance touchdown.
Royals running back Jayden Graham put his team on top early in the fourth quarter with a 12-yard run. Graham finished the night with 113 yards on 26 carries.
“He’s a tough runner, you know,” Goosen-Brown said. “Obviously he’s a big, physical back, so gang tackling was important for that.”
Both teams traded punts to begin the game before Hart turned the ball over on downs near midfield.
Zach Saldivar got the ball back on the next drive, though, intercepting Quartz Hill quarterback Dylan Marchant deep in Hart territory, the last time Marchant would see time under center in the game.
The momentum didn’t last as Hart quarterback Jacob Paisano was intercepted by Daryl Lawrence after a long drive.
The Royals were able to move the ball and use up more than five minutes en route to the first score of the game, a 1-yard run by Larey, who also kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Hart proceeded to punt on the ensuing drive and Quartz Hill ran a couple plays before the whistle came for halftime.
The Hawks were held to just 93 yards of offense in the first half, 81 coming from Paisano.
Goossen-Brown said having a whole new coaching staff and a large number of players coming up from the junior varsity ranks helped make it a slow start in the first game of the year.
“I think we were just trying to feel each other out here,” he said. “We got a whole new crew out here, you know, first time guys are playing varsity games. So, we’re finding our rhythm. We’ll be fine once we get rolling.”
Paisano continued to have his moments in the second half, running in the first touchdown of the year from 15 yards out midway through the third quarter. He then found tight end Oliver Welch from 13 yards out late in the third quarter to put Hart out in front, 13-7.
The Hart quarterback finished with 175 passing yards, completing half of his 30 attempts. He had one interception, which led to Quartz Hill’s first touchdown.
“They have a really good defensive line,” Goossen-Brown said. “They had a good pass rusher, and we just – at times we didn’t get what we needed to help the quarterback out. But he’s a great quarterback, and he bounced back and he made decisions in the end that put us in position to be successful.”
Paisano led the Hawks to the Quartz Hill 10-yard line with a couple minutes to play in the game, but the Royals were able to hold strong at the end.
Hart forced two turnovers on the night, with Timothy Tadler recovering a fumble in the third that led to Hart’s second touchdown.
Hart running back Zach Rogozik showed he could be a threat in the passing game as the season goes on. He picked up 75 yards on six catches.
Sophomore receiver Matix Frithsmith also showed his new coach that he’s a possible “hidden gem,” as his coach called him after the game. He had five catches for 63 yards and was a main target for Paisano all night with senior receiver Parker Maxwell continually covered closely.
“I was hoping to keep him hidden a little longer, but he’s a very good player and he compliments everybody else on the team too,” Goossen-Brown said.
Not everything went Hart’s way on Friday, but Goossen-Brown thinks his squad is just a few small fixes away from getting on the right side of things.
The Hawks will look to even up their record when they travel to Burbank next Friday to take on the Burroughs Bears, who did not have a game scheduled for the first week of the season.
Quartz Hill is set to head to Ridgecrest to take on the Burroughs Burros (0-1), who lost at home to Tehachapi on Friday, 26-14.
