This season, head coach Jake Goossen-Brown wants to test his Hart football team.
Following a shutout over Birmingham, and statement win over Newbury Park last week, the Hawks entered Friday night’s matchup against the unbeaten Pacifica as the team tobeat.
But after giving up a 20-point second quarter that was highlighted with costly mistakes and penalties, the Hawks fell, 39-20, to Pacifica and dropped to 2-1 in the season Friday at College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium.
“Obviously, it’s never a good thing to lose. But this is a well-coached team. They are a very talented team,” Goossen-Brown said. “We were within 6 points in the middle of the third quarter. Our kids fought, but we shot ourselves at the foot a couple of times.”
Going into the game, the Hawks knew the Tritons were going to be a tough matchup.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Tritons were ranked as the No. 29 team in the state of California, according to MaxPreps.
But the high rankings didn’t stop Hart’s willingness to test themselves against last year’s Division 3 Southern Section champion.
In the opening frame, the Hawks took a commanding 14-0 lead highlighted with Matix Frithsmith recording two touchdowns, one on the ground and receiving.
Defensively, the Hawks also intercepted Pacifica’s Taylor Lee, who threw five touchdowns last week, in the first quarter of the Triton’s first drive of the game which led to a scoring drive for Hart.
But in the second quarter, the momentum switched in favor of the Tritons.
Stalled offensive drives and untimely penalties led the Tritons to four separate scoring drives.
Mistakes that were self-inflicted according to Goossen-Brown.
“The penalties hurt us and we gave them momentum, and once they got momentum, they’re a very good team and ran away with it,” he said. “We had opportunities to get back and take it back into it, but we just couldn’t string together the plays that we needed to make.”
In the second half, the Tritons built upon their momentum.
The Tritons revived possession to start the second half and extended their lead with another touchdown and led 26-14.
But as the Tritons looked to run away with the game, the Hawks flew themselves back into it.
Punting from their own 20-yard line, Pacifica’s punter muffled the ball and kicked it out onto the sidelines. The play resulted in a penalty and possession for the Hawks at the one-yard line.
The Hawks capitalized on the field position and cut into the Triton’s lead but still trailed, 26-20, with a Joshua Rogozik one-yard score.
Ultimately, the lone second-half touchdown was the final score for the Hawks as the Tritons built on their lead with a 19-point third quarter.
After the game, Goossen-Brown said that injuries and missed opportunities cost the Hawks but saw value in the defeat.
With the Tritons being a top-ranked team, Goossen-Brown believes Friday’s loss is a game for his players to learn from and is eager to see what time the Hawks can grow into. And with the new week, comes a new challenge and test for Goossen-Brown’s Hawks, and he likes his team’s odds to end the non-league season on top.
“We wanted to test our worth and see what we can do,” he said. “We were in a heavyweight matchup for a minute against a very good team. We got to clean tings up and I’mexcited what these kids can do.”
Despite the loss, the Hawks still began the season 2-1. And the team holds a favorable matchup next week with a road contest against Heritage Christian Warriors, who the Hawks beat last year.
The Hawks matchup against the Warriors Friday at Heritage Christian with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
