HART – While there’s a chance that that 2022 Hart football season could end without a playoff appearance, it will still be a year that the Pirates and their fans will remember for a long time.
With a 6-2 record, the Pirates have already set a high mark for a program that last won six games in 1992.
Hart did not have a team at all in 2015, then won a total of eight games over the next five seasons. The Pirates improved to 4-5 last year and have become a really good team this fall.
“Personally, I think it’s one of the most enjoyable seasons I’ve had,” said Hart head coach Joe Tanis, who many fans remember from his years of coaching at Orchard View. “We’ve been blessed with great people and good timing. I have a great staff around me and kids that have been excellent. They’ve been a lot of fun to work with and it’s gone about as good as it can go.”
[1]The Pirates’ six wins, or even a possible seventh against a very good Ravenna team on Friday, may not be enough to earn the Pirates the first playoff berth in the history of the program.
Currently Hart is 41st in playoff points in Division 5, where the top 32 teams will make the postseason. The MHSAA playoff pairings will be announced on Sunday night.
“We want it for the guys and the community,” Tanis said. “I don’t know if it will work out. But I think what we’ll talk about in this program, if our group goes 6-3 or 7-2, is just how proud we are. That extra game isn’t going to affect their lives. We try to measure ourselves by being the best us. If the best us is 6-3, then we controlled what we can control.”
Tanis admits that the current situation may come back to a decision that he made when he first became the head coach in 2021.
[2]The Pirates entered into a co-op arrangement with Walkerville, which does not have football, so kids from that school could play at Hart. Due to state rules, that decision automatically elevated Hart from Division 6 to Division 5, where it’s more difficult to get into the playoffs.
“We wanted both a junior varsity and varsity team right away,” Tanis said. “We thought we’d get eight kids from them, but we’ve only gotten one each year. It’s my decision that put us in this predicament a bit. If we were Division 6, we’d probably get in the playoffs with a win.
“In hindsight, there is regret if it costs our kids a shot. But at that time and as a leader, you make the decision with the info you have. We’ve had a junior varsity and a varsity the last two seasons and haven’t had to cancel a game. I may have a little regret, but we talk about perception and response.”
Response has been a strong point for the Pirates, who started the season with multiple injuries and lost their opener to Fremont 22-8.
“Early on in the season we had a lot of guys go down,” Tanis said. “There were a couple games early in the year when we were trailing going into the fourth quarter, or in the final minute of the third, and we were able to battle back. We were trailing in tight games and pulled away by a couple scores. It kind of told me what kind of response our kids have to adversity.”
[3]Following the season-opening loss, Hart responded by defeating White Cloud 38-19, Shelby 38-6 and Muskegon Heights 36-14.
After losing 55-14 to North Muskegon to move to 3-2 overall, the Pirates have won three straight games with victories over Mason County Central (22-16), Holton (53-0) and Hesperia (44-6).
Tanis hopes the Hart program has turned a corner and is able to build on its success.
“I think that’s why you kind of want to come to Hart,” he said. “They haven’t had traditional success year in and year out. The opportunity to do that is pretty rare, so it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a challenge, but a fun challenge the entire time.”
One Pirate who’s been having a lot of fun is Trayce Tate, who had a banner night last Friday, rushing for 127 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-6 win over Hesperia.
[4]Tate has 455 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns going into the Ravenna game.
“He’s a lot of fun to coach,” Tanis said. “Not many kids are like him. He’s 130 pounds of pure heart. He runs like he’s 180 pounds and has that sweet mullet with hair coming out the back of his helmet. He’s a special kid and a fourth generation Hart football player.”
Tate said he doesn’t brag to his family – including his dad Shane and brother Brady – about being the winningest member of the football clan.
“It’s pretty cool to be one of the last ones and end things on a good note,” he said about the family tradition. “I don’t let them know about the wins because everything I’ve learned I’ve learned from them.”
Both Tanis and Tate hope this season will lay the groundwork for a bright future of Pirate football.
“The youth program guys look up to all of us and it’s really cool to see that,” said Tate, who added that team chemistry has been a big plus for the Pirates this season. “We’ve really bonded. This has probably been my favorite season. We’re really close as a team and it’s really helped us be successful.”
The simple fact is that the Pirates have had a very good year, regardless of whether they make the playoffs, and Tanis hopes the players realize that.
“We try to put football in the proper place,” the coach said. “It’s just a game at the end of the day. We try to make sure we don’t attach ego and self-worth to our football performance. We work hard to be our best, but we can’t control all of the outcomes.”
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