After winning its first playoff game since 2019, the 2025 season came to an end for the Hart High School football team on Friday night as Palm Springs narrowly beat the Hawks in the quarterfinals of the Division 7 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs.
The Palm Springs Indians defeated the Hawks 22-21, despite Hawks’ running back Matix Frithsmith’s three-touchdown performance.
“We fought ’til the very end, and we were in adverse situations and with the long travel, we went out there and I think we still laid it all on the line,” Hart head coach Jake Goossen-Brown said. “I thank the seniors for what they did and the great contributions to this program and helping build our culture.”
Frithsmith, who tallied three rushing touchdowns in the loss, was the biggest performer for the Hawks and has been the leading player for the offense.
Through 11 games, Frithsmith accounted for 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards. It was a feat praised by his head coach, and he can’t wait to see what he does for his senior season after a big junior season.
“He’s a gamer. And he went out there and did some great stuff last night … he left nothing to doubt on the field for himself,” Goossen-Brown said. “He did all he could to help put our team in a position to win the game.”
The junior running back came up big for the Hawks as he was the lone scorer of the night for his team.
In the fourth quarter with the game tied at 14 apiece, he scored the go-ahead touchdown with eight minutes left in the game to put the Hawks up, 21-14.
Despite the late score it wasn’t enough to hold the Palm Springs offense at bay.
With less than a minute left in the game, the Indians quarterback Bishop Miller threw a deep pass to Davelle Johnson and was tackled on the 1-yard line.
On the next play, the Indians’ Koa Rapollo punched the ball in for a touchdown. Instead, of going for the PAT, the Indians’ offense attempted and converted the 2-point conversion and took the lead over the Hawks in the game’s final seconds.
Moving forward, Goossen-Brown said it’s going to be hard to replicate the success of senior quarterback Jacob Paisano and defensive lineman Josh Whitson’s production, who recorded three sacks in Friday’s loss.
Regardless, he’s excited for the future and what the team can achieve next season as he enters his third year as head coach of the Hart football program.
“These kids have bought into the way I kind of do things,” he said, in response to taking over the program and establishing his own culture. “I do things just a little differently, but it was the same type of standard. A winning traditional program and the kids have done a great job responding to that. It’ll be interesting to see here in a few years with guys that have only been the way that we’ve been doing it, and to see what’s going to end up looking like.”
