Following a loss to Newbury Park last week, the Hart Hawks were on the road Friday at Heritage Christian High School in a matchup against the Warriors looking to close the non-league season with a bounce-back win.
Despite the Hawks’ defense giving up a game-opening touchdown to Heritage Christian, head coach Jake-Goossen-Brown told The Signal that his Hawks responded well to adversity and secured the 49-14 win over the Warriors to start the season 3-1.
“We were excited to bounce back after a hard-fought battle with Pacifica,” Goossen-Brown said. “I told our kids we had to be ready to take out all of our aggressionsand our frustrations and go out there and leave it all on the field Friday night.”
And in Friday’s win, the Hawks left no doubt.
Hart’s offense exploded for a 49-point first half, and junior quarterback Camren Ketner led the Hawks through the air and ground.
Ketner tossed for 155 yards and completed six for 10 pass attempts along with two touchdowns. And on the ground, he rushed for 115 yards on seven carries.
Goossen-Brown said that Ketner has been adjusting to being the full-time varsity starter throughout the first three games of the season, but that Friday’s win was the junior’s coming out party.
“For being a new starter … he’s finally showing all that he’s capable of,” Goossen-Brown said. “He’s got legs and he’s got a great arm. So, he got to show all his skills.”
As for the rest of the offense, the Hawks played it safe with Matix Frithsmith, who suited up on Friday night but did not play as Goossen-Brown wanted to give him extra rest.
Through three games, Frithsmith totaled 549 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns and has gotten many of the Hawks’ carries in the backfield.
With no Frithsmith on Friday, the Hawks relied on Michael Toner, Silas Tucker and Josh Rogozik to have big nights.
“We have some great players from top to bottom,” Goossen-Brown said. “To see them all get an opportunity to shine was great for them and for us as a team. More guys others got to worry about.”
Rogozik ended Friday’s win with 125 rushing yards and averaged 14 yards a carry. Toner also combined for two touchdowns in the win, one on the ground and the other receiving. Tucker caught a touchdown reception and ran in for a touchdown.
Defensively, the Hawks gave up the touchdown in the game’s opening drive but adjusted quickly with timely picks and pressure on Heritage Christian’s quarterback.
Bailey Hill manned Hart’s secondary and recorded two interceptions and led Hart’s defense to holding the Warriors to 14 points.
As for special teams, Hart’s new kickers Sophia Mendelyan and Kelly Wieckowski made their second appearance for the Hawks, two girls who joined the Hart football roster during the season, according to Goossen-Brown.
Goossen-Brown said that both players joined after he reached out to the girls’ soccer coaches for potential kickers and that they later made their debut in the win over Newbury Park in Week 1. And in Friday’s win over Heritage Christian, Mendelyan converted a point after the touchdown.
“They’re really good soccer players and we had to figure out who can come out and kick the ball,” Goossen-Brown said. “So, they came out here and were booming the ball. They said they wanted to do it … and they’ve been doing a good job.”
With the win, the Hawks started the season 3-1 and will take their scheduled bye next week as other teams in the Foothill League begin league play.
Goossen-Brown is looking forward to cleaning up the little things and is using the next week as an opportunity for his Hawks to get better as the team looks toward a league season that can end with a championship.
“We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start, but we’ve got a lot to clean up,” Goossen-Brown said. “The bye week isn’t a week off. It’s a work week. We’re going to come in and get work in and be ready to go because we want to start league 1-0.”
The Hawks play again on Friday, Sept. 25, against the Saugus Centurions at College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
