By Tyler Wainfeld
For The Signal
The Hart Hawks football team has been scoring in bunches this season, entering Friday’s contest against the Castaic Coyotes putting up 31.6 points on average through seven games.
Many of those touchdowns have led to rousing cheers from the Hart sideline, but no cheer was louder than when senior lineman Gabriel Degl’innocenti pounded his way into the end zone in the second half on Friday to extend the Hawks’ lead to 35-0.
“It’s something I never felt before,” Degl’innocenti said. “It was the most exciting part (of the game). It’s what every lineman dreams of and, you know, I’m (thankful) that coach gave me the opportunity. The guys up front blocked for me, and I just had to pound it through that. It was so exciting.”
The Hawks would go on to win by that same 35-0 scoreline at Valencia High School’s Dr. Paul A. Priesz Stadium in a game that featured howling winds and plenty of running.
Hart (7-1, 4-0) head coach Jake Goossen-Brown said those winds were a factor in how both teams were able to play. It also affected the start of the game as it kicked off at 4 p.m. instead of the originally scheduled 7 p.m. start time for fear that the winds would cause a power outage at night, he said.
The Hawks didn’t look to be affected by that, though. Senior Matix Frithsmith took his season touchdown total up to 21 with three more scores on the day, all of them on the ground and all of them in the first half to help the Hawks to a 28-0 halftime lead over the Coyotes (3-5, 1-3). Frithsmith ended the game with 169 rushing yards on just 23 attempts, good for 7.3 yards per carry, while adding two catches for 23 yards.
The Hart talisman, who nearly had a fourth touchdown when he took the opening kickoff 99 yards to the end zone before a holding penalty on Hart negated the big play, said scoring never gets old for him.
“It’s always fun to score,” Frithsmith said. “Getting the ball is always really fun. Just making people miss is always fun.”
With the Coyotes trailing big at the half, a running clock was used for the entire second half. But that still left enough time for Goossen-Brown to get his lineman a chance for some glory.
“He generally does the D-line and the offensive line work, so for the linemen, it’s like they all scored,” Goossen-Brown said. “You know, they were saying, ‘Oh, he’s living all of our dreams,’ you know, by being able to score the ball there. So they were pumped for him because it’s something that — everybody wants to carry the ball and score touchdowns … So for one of their own to get a touchdown, you know, it sent chills for them, down their spines out there. So, it’s awesome.”
The Hawks also saw the return of junior quarterback Camren Ketner, who had missed the last two games with an injury. He completed five of his six passes for 70 yards and a touchdown to junior Derek Michel. He also threw an interception and ran for 33 yards.
“We focused on the ground game, and, you know, Camren showed his legs are great still, and so it was nice to see that,” Goossen-Brown said.
Senior defensive back Bailey Hill led the Hawks’ defense with five tackles for loss, including two sacks. Degl’innocenti said everybody has been doing their job lately for the Hawks’ defense, which has been tough to score on in Foothill League play thus far.
“Everybody does their job,” Degl’innocenti said. “Everybody keeps others in line as well. So, nobody’s a cowboy out there. Nobody’s doing their own thing. Somebody messes up, we get them right. And everybody out there, we communicate a lot, and we just do our job effectively.”
Castaic has a meeting with West Ranch next week.
The Hawks will hope to keep the winning ways going when they host Canyon next week. After that, the Hawks finish up the regular season with a game against the Valencia Vikings, who are also undefeated in league and are looking to capture a fourth consecutive league title.
But Degl’innocenti said the Hawks have had one goal in mind the whole season.
“Our goals we have written in the locker room, in the weight room, and everywhere, are win league,” Degl’innocenti said. “So, we’re gonna come out. We’ve been coming out every game trying to go 1-0 and trying to fight for that league title, and it’s not gonna stop until we get it.”
