On a humid Thursday night at Keith Ritchie field, senior quarterback Dominik Hardy racked up four touchdowns, completing 17 of 24 passes to lead the Calabasas Coyotes to a 24-17 victory over Birmingham to improve to 4-0 on the young season.

Hardy was poised in the pocket all night, able to navigate through the aggressive defense that Birmingham threw his way. All four of his touchdowns landed in the hands of a different receiver.

“Of course, it’s extra special,” said Hardy when discussing the variety of receivers who scored. “Everybody was clicking today, and if we can play like this every game, we’re going to be hard to beat.”

Although the Coyotes offense found its form, the contest began with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm, resulting in a scoreless first quarter.

Calabasas head coach Cary Harris credited the teams ability to stay composed and remain even-keeled in order to not let the slow start disrupt their mentality.

With 6:50 left before halftime, that all changed as Hardy connected with fellow senior Kingston Celifie, who juked and ran his way to a 37-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead against the Patriots.

Birmingham came to play. On the very next drive, junior quarterback Daniel Kakooza took the field for the Patriots from their own 21-yard line. Kakooza completed a deep pass, a rarity for Birmingham at this point, to Paul Turner, which set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Braylen Morgan.

Now in a 2 minute drill, Hardy and the Coyotes looked to build upon their momentum and take the lead before halftime. Calabasas executed perfectly as Hardy’s second touchdown of the game came on a beautiful back-shoulder throw to Jayden Campos in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass, giving the Coyotes a 14-7 lead with just 35 seconds remaining.

As the third quarter got underway, Calabasas was hoping to take advantage of a missed field goal by Birmingham that set the Coyotes up at their own 20-yard line. However, an unfortunate series of penalties, including a roughing the passer and an illegal forward pass call, along with a dropped pass on third-and-20, forced the Coyotes to punt. The punt was tipped and recovered by Birmingham following a botched snap, setting the Patriots up just outside the red zone.

This time, a penalty on Birmingham forced the Patriots to settle for a 44 yard field goal attempt, which was successfully converted, as they cut the lead to 14-10.

This did not deter Calabasas. The Coyotes answered back with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. Hardy connected with Korbin Thomas on a 46-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 20-10 after Calabasas’ extra point attempt was blocked.

Birmingham, determined to close the gap, was able to reach the opposing 34-yard line as time dwindled in the fourth quarter. Tragedy struck for the Patriots as they threw an essentially game sealing interception with 4:20 left in the game. The turnover was followed by Hardy’s fourth and final touchdown pass when he connected with Ryan Lovejoy on a 29-yard score with just over two minutes remaining.

The Patriots scored with 16 seconds left to cut the score to 27-17 and even recovered an onside kick attempt.

In the end, the lead was too large and time was too little for Birmingham. When the game clock struck zero, Calabasas remained undefeated.

The Coyotes have their bye this week, and before they return to the field at Ventura on Friday, September 25, Harris wants to prioritize cleaning up penalties along with the prevention of big plays. Calabasas will look to pick up their fifth straight victory to start the season.

Birmingham has up their first win of the season when they travel to Burbank to take on the Bulldogs on Friday night.

All photos by David Martinez