VALENCIA — “Just remember the feeling. Remember the feeling of these losses. … Run it back next year and don’t let it happen again.”
That was a message Hart junior quarterback Jacob Paisano would take away and fuel him and his team going forward after the Hawks’ 47-34 loss to Rancho Verde on Friday in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoff at College of the Canyons.
Ultimately, Hart’s difficulties stopping Rancho Verde’s running game proved to be the difference, as the unit collectively ran for more than 200 yards against Hart’s defense.
Hart (8-2) trailed 14-7 at halftime – the Hawks’ lone score coming courtesy of an 11-yard scramble by Paisano on fourth-and-6 shortly before the half – as touchdowns by wide receiver Amarion Orange and running back Jimmy Cruz Jr. gave the Mustangs the lead at the break.
The third quarter though was where the fireworks broke out for both sides.
An 88-yard, two-touchdown effort from Orange in the third extended Rancho Verde’s lead to a seemingly insurmountable 27-7 with 4:42 left in the quarter, but Paisano found senior receiver Parker Maxwell for a 58-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive to pull Hart within 27-14.
Rancho Verde (7-3) responded quickly, however, and they capped off a 77-yard drive with a 11-yard touchdown from sophomore running back George Campbell to extend their lead to 34-14 with 2:34 remaining in the third.
The teams combined for three touchdowns in the last 1:28 of the quarter as the score dramatically rose to 41-27 at the end of the third, giving Hart new life and a chance to potentially complete an improbable comeback – if they could get a key stop on defense.
Rancho Verde opened the fourth quarter with a 2nd-and-6 from their own 26-yard-line, but from then on the Mustangs displayed their dominance in the trenches.
A drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock – largely from short, methodical runs by Cruz and Campbell – finished with an 18-yard touchdown by Cruz and ended all realistic hope for Hart.
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Trailing 47-27 following that score, Hart was able to pull within 47-34 after Maxwell reeled in a 3-yard pass with 3:11 left, but an onside kick recovery by Rancho Verde sealed the victory for the Mustangs and finished a season that first-year Hart head coach Jake Goossen-Brown could be proud of.
“I’m extremely proud of them. I’m so grateful for the senior class that they came and they [showed] great leadership and they accepted me,” Goossen-Brown said. “You know, I’m a new guy, I came from out of the area, I’m not from Santa Clarita … I haven’t been here so … that everybody came and gave me an opportunity to come out here and coach them, I’m very appreciative of that.”