The first Foothill League championship for girls’ flag football belongs to the Hart Hawks.  Hart clinched at least a share of the title on Wednesday after a 28-7 win on the road at Valencia. The Hawks (15-5, 7-0) have no intentions of sharing the championship, so there wasn’t much of a celebration after the victory.  However, that potential share turned into an outright title after West Ranch (8-5, 4-3) lost to Vazquez (7-9, 1-6) on Wednesday, 20-12.  Hawks defensive back Natalia Fernandez was the main reason Valencia was held to just one score. Fernandez ended three Valencia drives with interceptions, two of which she took away in the end zone.  Valencia senior Jenalyn Profeta runs in the open field against Hart. Photo by Habeba Mostafa / The Signal. “It’s crazy, because we all came into this new and it started off for fun and to make history, and it’s really turned into that,” Fernandez said. “It’s really turned into something that we all love. We all love our coaching staff, and we all genuinely like going to practice and games every day. It just turned into a great outcome.”  Also making an impact with critical plays was wide receiver Gianna Costello, who reeled in two touchdowns.   Costello’s touchdown reception in the first half was Hart’s only score of the period. Hart was close to entering halftime with a shutout and up a score until Valencia made its play of the day.   Hart marched down the field until a pick-six from Valencia senior Sophia McCoy flipped the game. McCoy intercepted Hart quarterback Zoe Guzman and ran back a long touchdown to put the Vikings up 7-6 at halftime.  Costello was one of several Hawks to step up in the league title game as the senior took on more receiver duties as freshman sensation Natalie Williams was sidelined with an injury.   Hart senior Gianna Costello evades a Valencia defender in the open field. Photo by Habeba Mostafa / The Signal. “I feel like we’ve always been a second-half team,” Costello said. “We just always dial in and we get the job done when it needs to be done.”  The soccer star, turned flag football standout, finished the day with six catches for 79 yards and two scores.  Hart coach Josh Masmela thought his team played a slow first half as expected, due to the team’s late game the night before. Masmela was proud of his girls, who all took on this new sport and, in less than a year’s time, through some injuries, still became league champions.  “That’s just what a good team is, overcoming those injuries,” Masmela said. “I’ve mentioned all season long, the depth on this team is tremendous. So being able to showcase our other stars on the team, Jessica Gutierrez and Gianna Costello. We showcased our running backs as well.  Gianna Costello is one of the best athletes on campus, so that goes to show you know what she can do for our team.”  The Hawks’ passing game opened up in the second half. Guzman found multiple receivers, including junior Presley Radford, who Guzman found wide open in the end zone for six to put the game officially out of reach.  Valencia quarterback Camila Quintero hands the ball off. Photo by Habeba Mostafa / The Signal. “I think our mindset and momentum changed,” Fernandez said. “We really just had to switch and focus on not beating ourselves up for making mistakes and just to work cohesively as a team and put the horns down.”  Guzman finished the game 22-for-33 with 217 yards passing and four touchdowns. Junior Jessica Gutierrez made life easy for Guzman and added seven receptions for 81 yards and a long touchdown reception on third and long in the second half.  “Sometimes I feel like any coach could coach this team with the amount of talent they have,” Masmela said. “We’ve created a culture of just staying hungry and buying into what we’re trying to create here. Now we’re trying to exceed our expectations and really try to move forward into playoffs.”  History was made in Wednesday’s game but the Hawks have felt like they could win a Foothill League championship for some time.  “The second I heard that they were gonna do (flag football) for our school, I knew we had the team and all the athletes here at Hart to do it,” Costello said. “So as soon as I heard that flag football was going to be a sport here, we already knew this was almost in the bag.”  Hart receiver Presley Radford catches a touchdown pass against Valencia. Photo by Habeba Mostafa / The Signal. Fernandez praised her coaching staff for turning her and the defense into, no pun intended, ball-hawks.  “At the beginning of the season, it started off with just us figuring out what we were doing and it was kind of us just running around,” Fernandez said. “I think once we got our coach, (Luis Fernandez), he really shaped us into better players with the drills we do at practice, and he constantly motivates us during games. He gives us a little bit of tough love, but I think it makes us into better players … Josh and coach (Keith) Matkin have really worked to better our craft. Every day at practice, we’re working on new offensive plays and new defensive plays.”  The Hawks can celebrate their league championship more now they have become outright champs. Hart is also hoping for some more celebrating down the line in the CIF Southern Section’s first-ever flag football postseason.  “It’s definitely an accomplishment,” Costello said. “All of us are really happy, but we’re not done yet. We’ve still got CIF to win.”  Hart has two Foothill League games left. The Hawks return to the field Monday to host West Ranch at 6:30 before hosting Vasquez on Tuesday at 7 p.m., where the team can seal the undefeated season on senior night.   “I want to finish out the season undefeated, take West Ranch down again and take Vasquez down again and just build another name for Hart. We have so much success in many other sports, and we want to make Hart girls’ flag football a big name for itself.”  The post Hart wins first ever Foothill League flag football title   appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.