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Hart Football Advances With Second Half Offensive Outburst Against Chaparral
Hart head coach Mike Herrington addresses his team after their 34-23 win over Chaparral. (KHTS Sports/Wyatt Smith)

Hart Football Advances With Second Half Offensive Outburst Against Chaparral

The Hart offense found their rhythm in the second half as quarterback Zach Johnson threw four touchdowns on their way to a 34-23 win over Chaparral in the first round of the Division 4 CIF playoffs.

Chaparral had an early opportunity against Hart when they forced a blocked punt on the game’s opening drive. They took over at Hart’s eleven yard line and scored two plays later.

Hart got on the board a few possessions later when they strung together a 93-yard touchdown drive punctuated by a completion to wide open Taden Littleford to make it 6-7 with 7:19 in the second quarter.

“We lost first round last year and we came out and played our heart out, it’s a great win after losing to Golden Valley,” said Littleford.

A huge kick return set Chaparral up at the 19-yard line but the Hart defense held them to a field goal, making it 6-10 with 5:08 to play in the half.

Hart left points on the board in the first half, as they had two drives stall out inside the 15-yard line.

Things came together for Hart in the second half as the offense finished four of their next five possessions with touchdowns.

“I think that we’re really just starting to put it all together and see what we can do,” said Johnson. “And that’s a great feeling just because we’ve known it all along, we’ve known what we’re capable of and now we’re able to come out here and put it all together and we did that tonight in the second half.

Johnson threw three of his four touchdowns in the second half and spread it around, as Drew Munoz, Ashton Thomas and Luke Madison each found themselves on the receiving end of touchdown completion.

Hart opened up the scoring in the second half with a 42-yard completion to a wide-open Munoz to take their first lead of the night 13-10 with 3:46 in the third quarter.

Chaparral answered right back when Matthew Majel rips off a 55-yard carry for the score to retake the lead 13-17 with a minute in the third.

The momentum changed after Hart’s next drive when a Ryan Tomaszewski caught screen for 49 yards setup Ashton Thomas to break free for a 15-yard touchdown reception, 20-17 before the end of the third.

Hart made it a two score lead with an eight-yard screen to Luke Madison for a touchdown and didn’t look back. Taden Littleford poured on another one late in the fourth for the games final score 34-23.

“This is the stuff. You grow up watching these high schools around here and playoff games, it always means a little bit more, it’s just a great feeling to be able to get this win,” Johnson said. “We knew we could do it and we were just able to come out here and put it all together, and make plays to win the ball game.”

Hart (7-4) now goes on the road to continue their playoff journey against San Juan Hills (8-3) Friday night after their 39-25 win over Murrieta Mesa.

KHTS Sports is your place for the 2019 Santa Clarita high school football season and your Santa Clarita Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.

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Hart Football Advances With Second Half Offensive Outburst Against Chaparral

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About Wyatt Smith

Wyatt was born and raised in Santa Clarita. After graduating from Hart High School in 2012, he continued his studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a degree in applied statistics. After a year and a half working in the digital advertising industry, Wyatt left his previous field of work to pursue his interest in writing.