SANTA CLARITA — Quarterback Jacob Paisano combined for six rushing and passing touchdowns to lead the way for Hart football as they turned away a massive Saugus comeback attempt in the second half of the Foothill League opener Friday night to defeat the Centurions 46-35.
Saugus almost clawed back from a 26-point halftime deficit in its first defeat of the season. They scored 28 points in the second half and were also only down 5 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Hart defensive back Bailey Hill had an interception as Saugus was driving in the red zone with a little under two minutes left to prevent Saugus from turning it into a one-score game again and seal the 46-35 victory for the Hawks.
“It was unreal, the moment was legendary, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment and I’m glad I could make that play for my team,” Hill said about the game-clinching interception.
Hart got things rolling early in their homecoming game, scoring on all five of their first-half possessions. Hart quarterback Jacob Paisano had three rushing touchdowns in the first half and also a 30-yard touchdown pass to Michael Toner at the end of the second quarter. Saugus’ lone score in the half came on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jake Nuttall to Tre Lewis.
Matix Frithsmith was all over the field for Hart on offense and was also able to find the end zone in the first half on a 9-yard touchdown run. Frithsmith finished the game with 23 carries for 166 yards and seven catches for 113 yards with one rushing score and a receiving touchdown.
“Great first half by both sides of the ball,” Paisano said. “We were driving, and defense was getting big stops, but we know next week we got things to fix and clean up after that second half.”
After a strong first-half performance, the Hart defense had a tough time containing Saugus’ offense in the second half, with seniors Jake Nuttall and Ty Hall leading the way for the Saugus offense. After a strong return by Landon Lattimore set them up near midfield to open the second half, Saugus was able to score a minute and a half later as Hall scored on a short run for their first score of the half.
Hart was able to quickly answer back from the Hall score as Paisano found Frithsmith on a 29-yard touchdown pass, where Frithsmith made a great play on the ball in the corner of the end zone to give Hart a 40-14 lead in the middle of the third.
“We started off really strong in the first half, but second half definitely had a bit of the hiccups,” Frithsmith said. “I’m really proud of my offensive line as they kept piles pushing and the line moving.”
Following the Frithsmith score, Nuttall threw two touchdown passes on back-to-back drives for Saugus to cut the Hart lead to 40-28 early in the fourth. The Nuttall touchdown passes were a 6-yard pass to Degan Grant and then a 20-yard pass to Hall.
On Hart’s possession following the Hall score, Teddy Knott intercepted Paisano and took it back 35 yards for a touchdown for Saugus to make the score 40-35 at the time. Paisano scored a 19-yard touchdown run with a little over three minutes left on Hart’s final scoring possession of the game that lasted ten plays and was all run plays with either Paisano or Frithsmith running the ball.
Following Paisano’s final score, Saugus was able to drive all the way down to the Hart red zone in only three plays before Hill got the interception to seal the Hart win. Paisano finished the game 13 of 17 for 225 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception, and also ran the ball 14 times for 116 yards with four rushing touchdowns.
Nuttall finished the game 21 of 29 for 244 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception. Hall finished the game with 16 carries for 93 yards with a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Toner finished the game with five catches for 112 yards and the one score for Hart. Josh Whitson had two sacks in the game for Hart.
“Anytime you can get a win in this league and start 1-0 is huge,” Hart coach Jake Goossen-Brown said. “Jacob and Matix are two great players, and I’m lucky to have guys like that on my sideline. There were a lot of plays they knew they were going to be running it and they still couldn’t stop it.”
Hart will look to improve to 4-2 and remain undefeated in the Foothill League when they take on Golden Valley next week. Saugus is now 4-1 after tonight’s game and will look to bounce back when they travel to Valencia. Also, despite the defeat, Saugus has already doubled its win total from last year, when it went 2-8.
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