Sam Hake picked the perfect stage for his best performance. The lifelong Palisadian led Windward School’s football team to its first ever CIF championship last Friday night. The Wildcats outlasted host Excelsior, 43-42, in overtime to win the 8-Man Division I Southern Section title in Victor Valley. Windward (9-4-1) was an unlikely champion to say the least. The team graduated 13 seniors, including all but one starter. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. No one expected the Wildcats to reach the title game, much less win it. Especially against Excelsior, considering the Eagles’ linemen outweighed Windward’s by an average of 50 pounds. Hake, however, was the X-factor. With the Wildcats trailing by eight points with under four minutes left in regulation, he led his team on a 59-yard, rushing for one first down and completing eight straight passes’the last for a five-yard touchdown to Sam Miller. Hake then threw a key block on Miller’s two-point conversion run that tied the score and sent the game into overtime. The Eagles scored first in overtime but missed their two-point conversion attempt. Windward answered with a 14-yard scoring run by Jordan Wilson and kicker Noah Landry made the game-winning extra point. Hake completed 14 of 18 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from the tight end position. Hake was also Windward’s defensive captain this year, playing both linebacker and on the defensive line for the Santa Monica school. In Friday’s championship game he only left the field for punts and kickoffs. Throughout the season, the 6′ 1,’ 195-lb. junior shared quarterback duties on an offense that averaged 43 points per game while playing both 11-Man and 8-Man contests. Hake attended Palisades Elementary and Paul Revere Middle School before entering Windward as a ninth grader. Growing up, he played flag football and basketball at the Palisades Recreation Center and wrestled and played volleyball at Paul Revere. In addition to football, Hake plays in the Santa Monica Rugby Club. Hake will return to Windward for his senior year to try for a second consecutive CIF title on a squad that returns all but three starters next fall. An honor roll student, Hake lives in the Palisades with his brother Muki, his mom Kristy and his dad Jim. Like his older brother, Muki plays football and is now a seventh-grader at Windward. Hake was not the only Palisadian on Windward’s championship roster. Other locals contributing to the team’s title run were sophomores Kurt Kirschner, Austin Applegate, Aaron Siegal and Spencer Gooding and freshman Drew Pion. Kirschner and Applegate were defensive starters along with Hake. Gooding saw varsity time on Windward’s defensive line and Siegal and Pion are promising young quarterbacks.
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