A week ago, Hart football was left without an opponent after Bishop Montgomery dropped out, but in less than five days the Hawks hosted undefeated Heritage Christian at Cougar Stadium.
In the end, Hart defeated Heritage Christian, 49-34, for the Hawks’ second win of the season.
“This what’s fun, this is my favorite thing, is figuring people out,” head coach Jake Goossen-Brown said. “I spent all day Wednesday watching games, but to me, that’s the exciting part of being a coach, right? And then you hope your kids are coachable and you’ve done a lot, so that they know what we’re going to do and we kind of have a base thing, right? So, you’re able to fall back on your base fundamentals and do things right.”
The Hawks began the game with running back Matix Frithsmith leading the offense down the field.
The junior receiver broke off for back-to-back 30-yard-plus runs down the field to set up the Hawks’ offense on the Warriors’ 4-yard line.
And on second down, Hart took the lead as quarterback Jacob Paisano connected with Michael Toner in the end zone.
On the following drive, Heritage Christian responded with Ari Sykes throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Eli Simmons. The Warriors still trailed in the first quarter after the kicker missed the point-after attempt.
But before Hart’s offense could answer back, Frithsmith scored a touchdown on the returning kickoff and extended the lead over the Warriors, 14-6.
Following Hart’s scoring drive, Sykes threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josiah Allen to cut the deficit to one in the opening quarter.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Heritage Christian had possession in its own territory.
After a sack from Josh Whitson, the Warriors attempted a fake punt that resulted in a turnover on downs, giving Hart the ball deep in Warrior territory.
With great field position, Paisano threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Josh Rogozik and the Hawks extended their lead, 21-13, late in the second quarter.
In the final minutes of the first half, Paisano threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Toner as the Hawks extended their lead, 28-13, going into halftime.
But before both teams went into the locker room, Sykes and Donovan Booker linked to cut the deficit but still trailed 28-19 following the missed point-after attempt.
On the very first play following halftime, Allen scored on the kickoff return for a touchdown and the Warriors trailed by one following Sykes’ 2-point conversion.
After the drive, the Hawks responded with Paisano leading the offense down the field on big passes to Frithsmith to give the team another scoring opportunity.
“Jacob giving me the chance, to put the ball on me, is absolutely incredible,” Frithsmith said. “We built a great chemistry over the past three years since my freshman year. So, each year we just keep building and building and this is our last chance to make a statement. So, we’re here to show it.”
On second and long, Paisano connected with Toner for their third scoring play of the game and increased their lead over the Warriors, 35-27.
Following the drive, Warriors quarterback Sykes was picked off by Toner and handed Hart’s offense possession on Heritage’s 25-yard line.
“You know it’s funny, each week we’ve had a different guy have big games,” Goossen-Brown said. “Silas Tucker had a big game two weeks ago. First game Matix had a big game, and tonight, Michael Toner came up big. So, it’s nice that we have a lot of guys, and they’re all young guys which is really good, so I’m excited about us for now and the future.”
The next play resulted in a 25-yard run down the sideline from Frithsmith with Hart building its lead to 42-27.
With four minutes left in the third quarter, Heritage attempted to convert the fourth down, but Hart’s pass defense forced the incomplete pass and handed possession back to the offense.
On the following drive, Paisano showed off his legs and ran down the sideline for a 49-yard touchdown and extended the Hawks’ lead going into the final quarter.
Heritage Christian scored again in the final minutes of the game as Sykes scrambled into the end zone for the last scoring play of the evening.
After the game, Paisano spoke on the importance of winning and the rebound game they had after losing last week.
“It feels good winning,” Paisano said. “It just like last time we were home, feels good getting a win after a loss, you know, got to bounce back. It feels the best when it’s at home, too, in front of our crowd.”
Hart plays next week at home, hosting Saugus at College of the Canyons.
