By Brendan Samuels
LocalSportsJournal.com
FREMONT – Friday’s season opener for Hart football was a success as the Pirates walked away on top of Fremont, 8-6.
That success came down to one aspect of the game – how the defense responded in tough situations.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Fremont marched down the field, eating away at the clock and ultimately scoring the first touchdown of the game. Packers senior Owen Hertel punched the ball in from 3 yards out to put his team ahead. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, Fremont led 6-0 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Hart’s offense provided a nice drive of their own on their next possession, utilizing the run game as they so often do. Senior back JoseLuis Anaverde toted the ball alongside junior Eman Hertzler for the majority of that drive and capped it off with a short yardage score from Anaverde. The Pirates rode that momentum into a successful 2-point conversion, putting Hart in front 8-6 as time ran out on the opening frame.
Photo/Brendan Samuels
The remainder of the game featured plenty of defense for both sides. There were a combined eight turnovers on downs between Hart and Fremont, setting up a low-scoring affair that could only end with either the Packers scoring, or the Pirates standing their ground. The latter came to fruition.
“I probably made some bad play calls again tonight,” Hart coach Joe Tanis said with a smile. “I put our defense in a bad situation and we don’t want to play scared. It came down to the little things and how well our guys handled adversity. I think we must’ve had 150 yards in penalties, we’ve got to clean that up. That made it really difficult to move the football on the offensive side and that forced us to play from behind a bit.”
Adversity was something the defense felt all night. With the Packers following senior Andrew Steger and the offensive line to the tune of 184 rushing yards as a team, the Pirates were forced to make big plays to keep Fremont out of the endzone.
Three interceptions for Hart’s secondary turned out to be the needed answers. First, senior corner Hunter Chaffee nabbed an off-target throw from Fremont’s Tavin Reichert-Slater in the back of the end zone in the second quarter. Then, Connor Edwards pulled in two picks of his own off Reichert-Slater, one on the goal line that saved a touchdown.
Photo/Brendan Samuels
“At the end of the day, we owe this one to Coach (Jacob) Tumele,” Tanis said. “His defense was lights out tonight. We put him in bad spots and he responded as a coach and the kids responded as well, which is all you can ask for.”
With both offenses sputtering, the clock rolled on, leaving Hart in the lead and adding a bittersweet start to their 2023 season. After all, Fremont and Hart met in the season opener of 2022, a game the Pirates watched slip away.
With a bit of revenge completed against a team with much more size than them, the Pirates’ confidence can only grow.
“Anybody who looked at the field tonight and thought about picking for Vegas, they were probably picking the Packers,” Tanis said. “Our kids showed up and they’re tough both physically and mentally. They don’t shy away from contact or challenges and tonight they put on a great stage for it.”
The Pirates will get to head home in Week 2 and host White Cloud at 7 p.m. Thursday. Fremont will look to bounce back as they head on the road to take on Beaverton, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Photo/Brendan Samuels
