Football:
In spite of being 7-2 and winning the outright San Antonio League championship, the Claremont football program had to make a 65-mile drive to battle Hart at Valencia High School.
But instead of whining about having to travel to face a fourth-place team from the Foothill League, the Wolfpack focused on the task at hand.
Hart would take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but Claremont rolled off 22 consecutive points and led by 15 at the half.
The Indians would outscore the Wolfpack, 19-7, in the second half, but CHS drove home with a hard-fought 29-26 victory.
As he seems to do, Zack Leeper set the tone.
Leeper picked a Hart pass and brought it back 32 yards for a TD.
Leeper also did that in last week’s San Antonio League clinching victory at West Covina, and last season, when Claremont knocked off top-ranked Laguna Beach in the playoffs.
Nathan Giles is playing his best football.
The Wolfpack senior quarterback had TD runs of 62 and 35 yards in the first half.
With a 22-20 lead and just four minutes to play, CHS coach Shane Hile showed some stones and went for it on a 4th-and-1 on their own 40-yard line.
The gamble paid huge dividends, as they picked up the first down.
And Giles finished off that drive and the game with a 29-yard TD on a draw play right up the middle.
Hart would score late and attempted a 2-point conversion in the hopes of pulling to within one point of CHS.
But the Indians failed on the conversion attempt and on the ensuing onside kick.
CHS’ Caden Campuzano rushed for 50 yards, and scored a 2-point conversion after Leeper’s pick-six.
Up next: The Wolfpack will host Mayfair on Friday night.
The Monsoons (7-4) held off Glendora, 35-28, in overtime.
Box Score:
C: 0-22-0-7-(29)
H: 7-0-7-12-(26)
Records: Claremont (8-2); Hart (4-7)
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