Replacement St. Mike’s coach enjoys victory
Kevin Hauck looked at his coaching record in city rivalry games and discounted himself as the common denominator.
“It’s not because of good coaching,” Hauck said. “It’s because I’m a good-luck charm.”
However he wants to parse it, the record shows that a Santa Fe team with Kevin Hauck on the sideline, be it as an assistant or a head coach, is 30-5 against the school’s other two schools in the St. Michael’s/Santa Fe High/Capital rivalry. On Friday, Hauck was in a old, familiar position — just not one that he expected.
With St. Michael’s head coach Joey Fernandez serving a one-game suspension for his ejection in last week’s 47-7 loss at Bloomfield, it was Hauck who took over coaching duties in the rivalry game against Capital.
Hauck added his 30th win as the Horsemen rolled to a 42-6 win and halted their 0-3 start to the season. He did it against the Jaguars, where he was an assistant coach and head coach from 1988-99, and gave the game more meaning.
Of course, Fernandez used that bit of knowledge in tapping Hauck as his interim replacement.
“When it came down to it, there wasn’t a better person to put out there and let him try to get the ‘W’ against his former boss,” Fernandez said. “It was great o see him come out here. He was exciting and he did a great job.”
The first executive decision Hauck made proved to set the tone for the night.
St. Michael’s had not taken the ball to start any of its first three games, so when the coin toss went the way of the Horsemen, Hauck decided to take the ball. The result was a 60-yard drive that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown run by Derek Roybal for a 7-0 lead with 9:22 left in the opening quarter. It was the first lead St. Michael’s held all season, and it never gave it up.
“We talked to Joey about this in the office,” Hauck said. “‘Hey, if we win the toss, we want the ball, right boss?’ He said, ‘If that’s what you want.’ And I wanted to because we hadn’t led at all all year.”
Capital head coach Bill Moon, who hired Hauck as an assistant during his first stint at the school in 1988, had mixed emotions. He said he only thought about going up against his good friend before and after the game.
Once the teams lined up for the kickoff, it was just a game to him.
Moon added that there were about four plays that he noted had Hauck’s signature during the game, but otherwise it was Fernandez’s playbook.
“He’s someone I enjoy competing against more than others,” Moon said. “I’m not one who buys into this ‘fantasmic’ [stuff]. It’s just a football game. I love Kevin to death, and if he needed a kidney tomorrow, I’d be the first in line.”
Meanwhile, Hauck basked in the moment, especially since he went 0-10 at Capital his final year in 1999.
However, he wasn’t about to overlook what Fernandez did for him.
“You know, this is Joey’s program, and it will always be his program,” Hauck said. “It was an honor and a pleasure to have the keys to the kingdom or three hours.”