The Hart girls’ flag football team needed a win and a West Ranch loss to clinch the Foothill League title. But in the end, the Hawks placed second in the regular season following a win at home over Canyon and West Ranch beating Valencia.
“First and foremost, I’m so happy the league has expanded,” Hart head coach Josh Masmela said. “I think it’s great for the sport. I think it’s great for all girls in our school district to have the opportunity to play flag football. And it’s something that I wanted for last year, and I’m so happy that it happened this year.”
In the game with Canyon, the Hawks defeated the Cowboys, 32-6, and finished the season with a victory.
Prior to kickoff, the game was delayed by an hour due to officials not arriving for the scheduled start time, a scenario that left Masmela disappointed but proud of his girls for their performance in the win.
“It’s just an unfortunate way to open up a big game,” he said. “Those circumstances are out of our coach’s hand, the player’s hands. But I’m proud of the way the girls kind of just came out and played the way they did.”
In the win, Hart quarterback Hannah Cook threw four touchdowns, with receiver Natalie Williams catching three touchdown receptions.
Going into the game, the Hawks needed help from Valencia to defeat West Ranch for the team to clinch the league title.
And although the team did win its game, West Ranch defeated the Vikings and clinched the title outright as the Wildcats own the tiebreaker over the Hawks.
With a 12-2 league record, Masmela is proud of his team for the season they had and believes there is importance in winning their final games in the regular season as its momentum can help the team as they enter the postseason.
“It’s just about reminding the girls like the ultimate goal is to win it all, right? Regardless of what division we’re in, I’ve told the girls I believe in each and every one of them,” he said. “I believe in the team. And I just think, given the opportunity to play in the playoffs, it’s a whole different ball game, It’s a whole different season. The mantra has been five more games, so that’s just where our mindset is moving forward.”
Hart is joined by Castaic, Vasquez, and West Ranch in the postseason as the representatives of the Foothill League.
For Masmela, even though the team wasn’t successful in defending the league title after winning it last year, there is still belief for him they can win big in the postseason, and he hopes he can lead his team to doing so.
“It’s just a matter of knowing our players, knowing what they bring to our team as coaches,” he said. “We’ve got to capitalize in our game plan. It boils down to that. We have to be coaches and be on top of everything.”
The Hawks will play Royal High School on Tuesday in the first round of the Division 4 playoffs with the game set to begin at 5 p.m. at Hart High School.
