Hart football hangs in early, but drops game to Whitehall

WHITEHALL — Hart's sizzling start to the season - thrilling wins over Reese and Montague - has faded a bit after four consecutive lopsided losses, the latest a 31-8 defeat to Whitehall in West Michigan Conference Lakes play, but Hart coach Joe Tanis sees a team refusing to give up.

The Pirates (2-4, 1-4 WMC Lakes) hung in for the first half against Whitehall, turning back two different Viking scoring chances - one on a fourth-down stop and another on an interception by Elijah Anastasiades, after which Hart ran off the final 5:11 of the first half by picking up a couple of clutch third and fourth downs.

Unfortunately for Hart, the sheer size advantage Whitehall enjoyed wore the Pirates down eventually, and their star running back, Liam Leeke, gained 181 yards on the night with two scores.

"We're a young team. We had three freshmen out there on both sides tonight and had three seniors. With that comes some growing pains, and we're playing a lot of bigger schools with a lot of kids that have been in the weight room.

"What we do have right now is amazing senior leadership. I would take our leaders against anybody around. We have not been finger-pointing. Our culture is not cracked. We've had four tough weeks in a row now, but in the previous three weeks, we've continued to show up."

The Pirates were able to gain a couple of first downs on their first possession of the game, but were stopped on fourth down at the Vikings' 40-yard line. Hart then got its own stop in its own red zone and moved the ball a bit again, but a long jump ball pass was intercepted, and the Vikings scored on the ensuing drive.

That was their only score in the first half, though, and Tanis said it was where the Pirates wanted to be at the half.

However, Whitehall took the ball to start the second half and scored, converting a fourth-and-long with an 18-yard touchdown pass. On the next Hart possession, another long pass was intercepted, and the end of the play featured some shoving by each team, resulting in a player from each side being ejected.

Tanis said his players were sticking up for him in that instance, responding to some comments from the other side, and didn't fault their emotional response.

"I'm grateful for the guys I coach," Tanis said.

Whitehall again scored on the next drive, but Hart wasn't quite done yet. The Pirates managed to put together a good drive and converted a fourth-and-long of their own when Kolton Rockwell reversed his field and lobbed a pass to Anastasides for a 17-yard score. The two-point conversion made it 24-8 with 9:43 still to go.

However, the Hart defense couldn't make the last play needed to get the ball back, as speedy Whitehall quarterback Brayden Brown scrambled for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth down.

"We make those two plays and take away two scores, and now it's a one-score game," Tanis said. "We make one more play (from there,) it's a different outcome."

Hart didn't have much luck with its running game, but saw some bright spots from young players, including three freshman starters. Easton Hopkins, who saw heavy duty against Orchard View, got involved again Friday, with some carries and even some passes. Freshman Carlos Guijarro started on both sides of the ball and was second on the team in tackles with six, and Landon McCulley continued his solid work up front.

"We have some guys that were thrown in the fire," Tanis said. "There's a good young group there, and they are so blessed to have this senior group leading them."

Haegan Hansen led the team with 11 tackles plus five assisted tackles, and converted a fourth down early with a short run up the middle. He also had 48 total yards of offense. Hopkins and Keaghan Monroe had 23 yards rushing each, and Rockwell threw for 55.

It doesn't get easier next week for Hart as it faces unbeaten Ludington. Following that is archrival Shelby.

"We've got to do some things to close the gap," Tanis said. "We've got to get stronger in the offseason, and we've got to continue to build."