CALABASAS — There’s a simple formula that goes into thrashing a defense with a run game. First, tire it out with a bulldozing back. Then, when their legs become heavy, unleash the shifty playmaker.
Calabasas (2-0) executed that method on Friday as Kingston Celifie’s elusiveness complemented Kayne Miller’s power. Miller gained 120 yards and had four touchdowns and Celifie added 104 yards and two scores in Calabasas’s 48-12 win over Castaic (1-1) in a nonleague game.
Sophomore quarterback Dominik Hardy completed 11 of 14 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. He perfected the role of game manager, sifting through his reads to make the smart play and allowing the Coyotes’ ground attack to carry the load.
Hardy’s stats were boosted by an 81-yard, catch-and-run touchdown to his brother Dezmyn Hardy. That connection exemplified the difference seven days made for Calabasas’s offense.
“It was good to be able to see the offense take last week to heart,” head coach Cary Harris said.
A week ago, the Coyotes managed just 9 points in a win over Oxnard. Harris felt their problem wasn’t moving the football, rather they struggled to execute in the red zone, and on crucial down and distances. Instead, settling for a trio of field goals and relying on their defense to keep them competitive as they held Oxnard to 6 points.
On Friday, Calabasas got strong performances on offense and defense.
“It’s good having them both at the same time,” Harris said. “We lift each other up.”
The defense set the offense up with quality field position to start its first drive after cornerback Matt Baum intercepted Castaic quarterback Jayden Broderick’s third pass attempt.
Miller got the ground attack going as he totaled 38 yards over the first two drives, capping each with a touchdown. On the third drive, Celifie broke a 20-yard run to get the Coyotes into the red zone. Five plays later, he scored a 1-yard touchdown.
“I feel like it’s a great 1-2 punch,” Miller said. “We just create explosive plays for both of us.”
Their chunk plays only got chunkier as the game continued and Castaic’s defense grew increasingly averse to tackling the dueling-style backs.
With a minute remaining in the first half, Miller scored his third touchdown on a 13-yard carry. In the third quarter, Harris decided to run the ball on a third-and-8 from Castaic’s 41-yard line and Miller launched himself up the middle for another score. Two drives later, Celifie navigated the left sideline, on a second down carry, cutting across the field to beat the angle of multiple Castaic defenders for a 68-yard touchdown.
That play would have been the longest gain of the night if it weren’t for the Hardy brothers besting it.
“I saw that they were blitzing, cover-0 and I knew Dezmyn had a dig, 1-on-1 coverage,” Hardy said about that 81-yard gain. “I knew he was going to beat his man. As soon as he got out of his break, I threw it, and boom.”
Hardy’s intelligent description was a reflection of his team’s complete performance
Calabasas’s lone blemish came when Miller fumbled in the third quarter. But as Harris mentioned earlier, when the offense needs the defense to have its back, it does. And on the following drive, it did. Sophomore Simon Lazarovits wrapped up Broderick on a fourth-and-12 for his second sack of the night.
Alongside Miller, Celifie, and Hardy, Lazarovits is reshaping the look of Calabasas football. Gone are the days of Alonzo Contreras airing it out to Aaron Butler. Make way for a team that relies on its defense, sound decision making and a stout running game to dominate opponents.
