“Calabasas has scored again.”
Those are the words of Castaic’s play action announcer that rang throughout the night as Calabasas stomped the Coyotes at home.
Calabasas (2-0) defeated Castaic (0-2) 47-6 and handed the Coyotes their second straight loss to start the season Thursday night at Valencia High School.
“The facts are facts,” head coach Sirr Guy Shakir said. “We had 24 dudes today. We knew that going in. No one else was going to show up, so we played for each other. And we have to acknowledge that. The standard this year is to compete like hell and when you’ve got very few guys, that’s the only option that there is.”
The Castaic Coyotes didn’t start the game as they had hoped. On the opening drive, the Coyotes faced fourth down in their own territory but fumbled the ball, turning it over on downs.
Taking over at the 24-yard line, Calabasas running back Kayne Miller took a handoff up the middle and into the end zone for the first score of the night.
On the very next play after the touchdown, Castaic quarterback Aiden Mojica connected with Logan Wissinger for a 45-yard reception.
However, after that play the drive stalled, and the Coyotes again fumbled on fourth down inside the red zone.
Early in the second quarter, Miller broke free for a 26-yard touchdown run, extending Calabasas’ lead to 13-0.
On the following drive, Miller scored again on the ground, pushing the Coyotes into a 20-0 deficit midway through the second quarter.
Castaic responded with another big play, as Mojica connected with Wissinger for a 60-yard reception. But the Calabasas defense stopped Castaic’s momentum the rest of the drive, forcing a 40-yard field goal attempt that came up short.
On the next play, Calabasas quarterback Dominik Hardy connected with receiver Kingston Celifie for a touchdown, extending the lead to 27-0.
In the final minute of the half, Castaic punted the ball back to Calabasas but recovered after it deflected off a player. With 27 seconds remaining, Mojica lined up in the shotgun and scrambled for a touchdown, cutting into the deficit and sending the Coyotes into halftime trailing 27-6.
“The kid’s got eight quarters under his belt right now,” Shakir said. “So, to see the continuing growth and development of him is super important right now.”
On the first play of the second half, Miller would return an 87-yard kickoff to the endzone to increase Calabasas’ lead over the Coyotes to 33-6.
After another Calabasas touchdown to extend the lead to 40-6, the Coyotes were unable to answer back the rest of the game.
The Coyotes’ defense gave up another rushing touchdown to Aaron Perry and sealed Castaic’s fate with a 47-6 defeat.
“The scoreboard doesn’t dictate how we play.” Shakir said. “We play hard, and we play for each other.”
After the game, Shakir had a talk with his team about the performance, relaying the message for the team to stay strong and that the season is still young.
“We have a lot of stuff on film that we can clean up on,” Shakir said. “We’ll work on them technique-wise, we’ll still hold the guys accountable. It’s not a love fest just because we play hard, you’re supposed to play hard. But we do hold them accountable for the mistakes that we made, especially when they are things that we’ve worked on. But they’re good kids, they embrace the challenges that we put them in front of them, and we’re going to continue to push them.”
The Castaic Coyotes hit the road next week, matching up with San Joaquin Memorial.
