The South Hills football team hasn’t had much success recently, so its win Friday night over Diamond Bar was the boost the program needed.

The Huskies put together a memorable comeback, as they rallied from a 21-0 deficit to defeat Diamond Bar 30-29 in a Hacienda League opener.

It was Huskies’ first league win since the 2019 season.

“It happened so fast,” South Hills coach Jacob Calderon said of his team falling behind Friday. “We didn’t come in ready and prepared, but we started putting drives together and yeah, the comeback was great. We needed it.”

The Huskies are hoping to reach the playoffs this season for the first time since 2018 when they went 14-1 and won the CIF Southern Section Division 6 title, the school’s sixth championship.

South Hills (3-3, 1-0) struggled the past four years in the four-team Citrus 4 League that included Glendora, Colony and Los Altos. The Huskies got some relief by being placed this season in the six-team Hacienda League. The change gives them a real shot to make the playoffs.

South Hills is on the road against Walnut (3-3, 0-1) today.

“It’s a very competitive league and we’re excited to be in it,” Calderon said. “It’s another chance (against Walnut) to win a league game and make a push for the playoffs. That’s what we want, to get ourselves in the dance and have a chance to play in November. That’s what South Hills teams are used to doing “

As good as Friday’s win felt, it came with a huge cost. Danny Resendiz, arguably the Huskies’ most skilled two-way player, rushed for 197 yards before leaving the game with a broken collarbone.

A week earlier, South Hills’ other talented back, Sebastian Morinaga, injured his knee in a close loss to El Rancho.

“It’s huge,” Calderon said of losing Morinaga and Resendiz. “We’ve been bitten by the injury bug all season and preach next man up, that’s all we can do.”

Calderon said the Huskies’ offensive line dealt with injuries early in the season but was at full strength for the first time against Diamond Bar.

“So, hopefully we can lean on those guys going forward and start to find an identify,” he said.

Junior Tyler Arguinzoni, who rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns against Diamond Bar, and senior Anthony Gonzalez are likely see the bulk of the carries in the backfield.

“Arguinzoni has been a surprise,” Calderon said. “He came in and worked his butt off all season, and now we’re going to ask even more of him. Gonzalez gives us more speed and can get to the edge. As long as our line stays healthy, we should be OK.”

One thing the Huskies can’t do is take Walnut for granted.

“Not us, we can’t do that,” Calderon said. “We’re looking forward to playing them and trying to continue our run to punch our ticket to the dance (playoffs).”

The Hacienda League includes Covina, South Hills, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Chino and Los Altos.

“The Mt. SAC area did a great job putting our league together,” Calderon said. “There are a lot of games that can go either way every week so you have to get wins when you can.”