Taft has a proud sports culture, and the ‘22-’23 season is already turning out highs and lows. Here’s how each sport has progressed over this past year:

Fall

Football

JV:

Taft’s JV football team went 1-4 (wins-losses) in-league and 2-4-1 (wins-losses-ties) over the course of the season. They also had a low-scoring season; JV scored in only 3 of the 6 games they played, scoring 60 points for and having 144 points scored against them, equating to a points for: points against ratio of 0.41.

In spite of a rough season, JV did come up with a big win, namely against the much higher rated Chatsworth, where they came out on top 34-32.

Varsity:

Taft’s Varsity football went 5-7 for a decent win rate of 42%. That, as well as two shutouts against Chatsworth and Monroe and another two blowout wins against Diego Rivera and Hawkins, made Varsity an exciting team to watch despite what their win-loss record may show.

Varsity went 296 points for and 326 points against, which, while notably better than JV, still allows room for improvement.

Reflecting on the season, football coach Jeff Kearin noted, “Led by seniors Caden Cowles and Daniel Ramirez, we showed up every week and played exciting football.”

“We won one more regular season game this year [compared to last year] and moved up to Division II in the playoffs. We [also] doubled the size of the roster, and that allowed us to have a JV team, [which] helps us develop players properly over their time in high school.”

Coach Kearin also had a positive outlook for the 2023 season, saying that Taft’s new football stadium and practice facilities will “set us up for success down the road.”

Cross Country

Highlights:

• The Frosh (Boys) team won the West Valley League Championship.
• Both Varsity (Boys) and Varsity (Girls) placed fifth in the Division I LA City Section Championship respectively.
• 14 individual athletes medaled across all championship races.

Coach Mario Castillo-Urbina, looking ahead to next season, said, “We have so many young athletes [on] this team. Our Girls team will only lose two seniors, [and] the Girls team will have upper class athletes with experience under their belt.”

“The Boys team will be a young team next season; they’ll be losing six seniors, which will set the team up for an exciting start [with] a young core to take their place.”

Winter

Basketball

Frosh (Boys):

The Frosh season did not have a good start, with two hefty losses against Oak Park and Village Christian.

However, with a big in-league win at home against Chatsworth on 1/23 and another game against Chatsworth 2/3, this time with Chatsworth as the host, Frosh has a good chance to change their momentum for the season.

JV (Boys):

With a 58-50 tournament win against Providence, the season for JV looked like it was going to have a good start, but with a huge 57-point loss against the (now fourth in the nation) Bishop Montgomery, that prediction completely flipped upside down.

JV didn’t lose hope, however, and went 2-1 after that loss. Their next game is also against Chatsworth 2/3.

Varsity (Boys):

A 1-6 start, and a 16-4 inferno of a hot streak up to this article’s publication is the big story when it comes to Varsity thanks to three separate win streaks.

After the aforementioned 1-6 start, they went on a five-game win streak, lost a game, and then went on another three-game win streak to bring them from 1-6 to 9-7.

Their third win streak is still going. With Varsity’s win against Birmingham on Wednesday 2/1, they’ll be looking to extend an already huge six-game win streak against Chatsworth 2/3.

JV (Girls):

To kick off the season, Girls JV won their first two games against Marshall and Eagle Rock, but has since gone on a 3-7 cold streak akin to how Boys Varsity started their season.

After their (very big) loss against Birmingham on Wednesday 2/1, JV will have a chance to get back on their feet against Chatsworth 2/3.

Girls (Varsity):

Both Varsity basketball teams have a similar story: a rough start with a few win streaks catapulting them into a great win-loss record.

Girls Varsity went on a three-game losing streak near the start of the season, leaving them with a 2-4 record.

A three-game win streak right after that combined with five-game and four-game winning streaks later on in the season leaving them with a 17-9 record after a win against Cleveland on Monday and a close loss against Birmingham 2/2.

They’ll have the opportunity to keep their season going strong with a game against Chatsworth 2/3 at 4:30.

Soccer

JV (Boys):

JV has had a challenging season this year, with no wins posted. Their season ended with two losses to Granada on 1/6 and 1/25.

Varsity (Boys):

Varsity’s start and end to their season are, unfortunately, completely opposite each other. After winning seven of their first ten games and a four-game win streak right after, Varsity went on a five-game losing streak and has lost eight of their last ten.

With a rough game against Birmingham yesterday, it’ll be hard for Varsity to find a foothold. However, if they do pull through, things will be on the up and up with a game against Chatsworth 2/3 at 4:00.

JV (Girls):

This year has been a year of similarities, at least for soccer. The JV Girls team won four of their first five games, but went on two separate four-game losing streaks later in the season, one of which is still ongoing with their game against Chatsworth 2/3 at 5:30.

Those losing streaks have set them back to a 7-11-1 all-around record and a 2-5 in-league record.

Varsity (Girls):

Akin to JV, Varsity has also gone on two separate four-game losing streaks, their latest one having ended on Wednesday with their win against Birmingham, giving them a 9-11-1 record.

However, a thing many people would miss by just looking at their record is that all of their wins have all resulted in shutouts. Not only that, but when they score, they win 80% of the time.

Varsity’s next game is against Chatsworth 2/3 at 7:00.