HART – Towering heights was the theme of the night for Hart football as they dropped their final regular season game of the 2024 season 38-16 to Central Montcalm Friday, Oct. 25.
In the most literal sense of towering heights, the Pirates’ opponent owned a major size advantage. Figuratively speaking, Hart faced hurdles of massive proportions. The Hornets entered the game 7-1, a lock for the playoffs and hungry to kill any hopes – no matter how slim – that Hart had of getting to the postseason themselves.
“Two years ago we were 6-3 and fell a little short (of the playoffs),” Hart Head Coach Joe Tanis said. “One more game doesn’t really make a difference. It’s about our time together and the journey we’ve gone through with the highs and lows. We knew we were close, but we also knew we loaded up our schedule with a lot more playoff teams this year. We had to mature fast.”
It became apparent early that Central Montcalm had no intention of easing off the gas in its regular season finale. Hart received possession of the ball first, but just two minutes into that opening drive, the ball landed in the hands of a Hornet defender on a Halen Boos interception.
Central Montcalm took over, starting their drive in plus territory at Hart’s 36-yard line. Nearly three minutes later, the Hornets punched in the first points of the game on a run from two yards out. A conversion on the two-point attempt gave them an early 8-0 lead that would stay intact for the remainder of the opening quarter.
Hart showed life in the second quarter however, answering the Hornets with a long drive that left them knocking on the door at the one-yard line. Kyle Greiner finished that drive off with a touchdown run, adding a successful two-point conversion run as well to tie the game at 8-8 early in the second.
The Hornets were quick to respond to that score, marching down the field in less than two minutes time to set up a go-ahead touchdown run. Another two points were added after that to give Central Montcalm a 16-8 lead midway through the quarter.
Offense for the Pirates stalled out for the remainder of the first half with Hart struggling to gain enough yardage to move the chains. That resulted in a turnover on downs for the Pirates, handing the ball back to the Hornets with four minutes left until halftime.
Hart’s defense stood up with its back against the wall, only allowing Central Montcalm to advance the ball to the Pirates’ 25-yard line. At that point, Hart forced a fumble that was recovered by Jose Torres. That ended the first half on a high note, sending the Pirates into the locker room with just a one-score deficit.
Entering the second half, it was exclusively Kolton Rockwell at quarterback for Hart. That wasn’t a coaching decision, but one made by the senior leader, Boos. In a true passing of the torch moment, Boos let the entire team know in the locker room that it was Rockwell’s team from that point on.
The change at quarterback wasn’t enough to spark Hart’s offense as they failed to score any points in the third quarter. Central Montcalm didn’t follow suit, adding two more touchdowns to their lead to enter the final stanza with a 30-8 lead.
Rockwell tried his best to lead the Pirates to an improbable comeback in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets were too strong on both sides of the ball. One of Rockwell’s pass attempts went the other way for six points as a Central Montcalm defender came away with the pick-six.
Hart did break through late, adding their second score of the game on a 14-yard run from Keaghan Monroe. Alex Hicks completed a pass on the two-point conversion to bring the game’s final score to 38-16.
The Pirates were led by Greiner on the ground with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown while Julian Vazquez took 15 carries for 64 yards. Rockwell went 3-for-9 passing for 54 yards.
“Julian is a kid that’s been working his butt off, and not getting his chance,” Tanis said. “It just happened that in his final game of his high school career he got to go out there and he played a heck of a game. It was a lot of fun to see him have that kind of success.”
Greiner led the team on defense with eight total tackles. Hicks recorded six tackles while Boos had five.
The Pirates were unable to build off last season’s inaugural postseason berth for the program, finishing the year at 4-5 with a fourth place finish in the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division at 2-3.
A large group of seniors saw their final action in a Pirate uniform as Hart will be without the core group of guys that helped build the program from the ground up.
“These kids respond when things don’t go their way,” Tanis said. “We understand football and we love it, but it’s not the end all be all. It’s a big part of our life, but these kids have shown that they’re outstanding on and off the field.”
