1990 (9-4)
Three Seconds

1990 was the year I started paying much more attention as a couple of my friends' sons were starters. Junior Ryan Connors was the quarterback and like all his immediate predecessors, was named all-CIF. After three consecutive victories over Canyon in the season opener, Hart lost 14-7. Hart also lost one other pre-league game as well as one league game to Schurr (the last league loss for the next 15!!! seasons). Hart finished the regular season at an unimpressive 7-3 but then the Indians started hitting their stride in the playoffs, beating Los Al in the first round and El Modena in the quarter finals. The semi-final game was a loss to Esperhanza. It was a heart-breaker. As time ran out Esperhanza scored from the 3.

Date	Location	Opponent	Score
09-07-1990	COC	Canyon	7-14
09-14-1990	COC	Crespi	3-14
09-21-1990	PHS	Palmdale	38-6
09-28-1990	COC	Saugus	49-7
10-05-1990	QHHS	Quartz Hill	23-20
10-11-1990	ELAC	Alhambra	35-6
10-19-1990	COC	Burbank	41-3
10-26-1990	SHS	Schurr	35-42
11-02-1990	Keppel	San Gabriel	56-0
11-09-1990	COC	Burroughs	42-14
11-16-1990	COC	Los Alamitos	13-10(OT)
11-23-1990	EMHS	El Modena	14-7
11-30-1990	Placentia	Esperhanza	35-38

1990 Statistical Summary

1990 Fun Facts

1991 (9-4)
Mastering the Spread

Hart's 1991 team was not exactly loaded with senior talent but did have a very gifted quarterback in Ryan Connors who was back in his second year as the leader. My general impression of many of the games was that Hart was too often scrambling to catch up. Some of the statistics from that season confirm that observation. Connors set the Hart record for most pass attempts in a game (58 against Thousand Oaks), a season (471) and, not surprisingly, career (824) as well as completions in a game (32 against Los Al). Some highlights: Hart beat Canyon in the first game of the season, 32-27 when the Canyon running back fumbled on about the 3-yard line with a few seconds to play. The Saugus game was interesting because of a "lesson learned." Hart had dominated this series having won 9 of the last 10 games (the other game was a tie). Fairly early in the game, Hart was backed up to about the Hart 30. It was fourth down and fairly long. Early in the game with no (or low) score; deep in own territory; long yardage on fourth down: All the factors scream "punt!". Hart decided to go for it, didn't get it. Saugus took over and scored a few plays later and pretty much controlled the game after that. It didn't help that Connors got nailed in the back and knocked out of the game although Davis Delmatoff was a very able back up. Hart's decision to go for a first down even though pinned deep in enemy territory early in the game was really pretty arrogant. It's one thing to make an attempt when you have to when trailing late in the game, or maybe with a trick play early in the game when the other side is a little off balance (e.g., a fake punt) but to just line up and go for it (i.e., no deception whatsoever) and then get stuffed gave Saugus all the energy they needed. Hart lost 40-21 -- the last loss to an SCV team for 14 years. Hart went on to finish the regular season at 7-3 and 5-0 in league. In the playoffs, Hart beat El Dorado and Chaminade but then lost to Los Alamitos in a cold, rainy game at COC in the semi-finals. My main recollection of that game is that Hart looked more like the early season team -- behind and trying to catch up but not very successfully. I also remember that the crowd was pretty tiny given that it was a semi.

Date	Location	Opponent	Score
09-13-1991	COC	Canyon	32-27
09-20-1991	TOHS	Thousand Oaks	21-33
09-27-1991	COC	Palmdale	33-14
10-04-1991	COC	Saugus	21-40
10-11-1991	?	Quartz Hill	20-21
10-18-1991	?	Alhambra	27-12
10-25-1991	?	Burbank	41-29
11-01-1991	?	Schurr	31-30
11-08-1991	?	San Gabriel	48-0
11-15-1991	?	Burroughs	41-20
11-22-1991	COC	El Dorado	33-26
11-29-1991	CHS	Chaminade	26-21
12-07-1991	COC	Los Alamitos	23-37

1991 Statistical Summary

1991 Fun Facts

1992 (11-1)
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Hart had terrific prospects going into the 1992 season. They made it to the semi-finals in 1990 and 1991. The 1991 team was junior-dominated. The 1991 JVs had gone 9-1 and had several outstanding athletes. Everything was in place for a championship run. There were some changes in the Foothill League in 1992. For almost 10 years, on of the first games of the season had been Canyon because Canyon and Saugus were in the Golden League and Hart was in the Foothill League. League restructuring changed that. Alhambra, San Gabriel and Schurr were dropped from the Foothill League and Canyon and Saugus were added, ending the decade-long traditional season opener with Canyon. Note that the re-vamped league had only five teams rather than the usual six, no doubt creating some scheduling headaches. The vacant sixth spot in the league was reserved for a new high school in the works -Valencia.

Senior Davis Delmatoff was the quarterback. He had been a terrific QB as a freshman and JV (he was within a hair's breadth of being named the varsity starter as a sophomore) and was a starting linebacker, receiver and backup QB as a junior (with a lot of playing time under his belt when Ryan Connors was injured), a quick study who loved to hit (think Brett Favre).

Hart rolled through the ten regular season games pretty much untouched, trampling Saugus 42-13 and beating Canyon easily, 36-0.

Hart easily won its first playoff game against Downey.

For the quarterfinal game, the Indians traveled to Glendale High to play Crescenta Valley. Based on performance to date, Hart was vastly superior in all aspects of the game. Generally bigger and faster, far, far more high-powered on offense and very tough on defense.

If Cal Preps' power-rating system had been around at the time, Hart undoubtedly would have been favored by a huge margin. Sometimes things just don't work out as planned and this was one of those games where Murphy's Law was writ large. Just about everything that could go wrong did. Crescenta Valley 13-7. Season over.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Date	Location	Opponent	Score
09-11-1992	COC	Pasadena	43-6
09-18-1992	COC	Thousand Oaks	21-6
09-25-1992	TOHS	Westlake	38-0
10-02-1992	COC	Alemany	43-0
10-09-1992	QHHS	Quartz Hill	28-7
10-16-1992	COC(H)	Saugus	42-13
10-23-1992	COC	Lompoc	35-9
10-30-1992	BHS	Burroughs	50-3
11-06-1992	COC	Burbank	44-14
11-13-1992	COC(A)	Canyon	36-0
11-20-1992	COC	Downey	45-14
11-27-1992	Glendale	La Crescenta	7-13

1992 Statistical Summary

1992 Achievements and Fun Facts

1993 (10-2)
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda, Act 2

I should think that Dean Herrington may view Mike Kocicka as his most difficult QB development project. Unlike all other QBs before or since, Mike was not "raised" in the Hart system.

The Hart passing offense is incredibly complex for the QB and receivers. Unlike most teams where a couple of receivers go out on set routes, at Hart there are four and sometimes five receivers out on every play and the routes often are not determined until the ball is snapped and can even change after the snap. The QBs and receivers must all make reads and adjust routes, usually without any verbal communication (in other words the QB is rarely calling out a new play at the line).

Mike was largely unfamiliar with all the demands placed on a Hart QB. He worked very hard in the summer and by the end of the summer had a pretty decent feel of the offense. But of course, that was all without the pads on.

In Hart's first game that year against Pasadena, Mike was not exactly a picture of poise or touch. He basically just dropped back and let it rip. Long or short, he put everything into every throw. My main recollection is that he chucked the ball way down field a bunch of times and periodically, someone would catch it. I also remember he had a great deal of trouble with the rush, always back-pedaling when someone came from the outside instead of stepping into the pocket. In any event, Hart won easily.

Several other pre-league games stick out in my memory. (Because the Foothill League had only 5 teams, Hart had 6 non-league games).

In second week, Hart played Thousand Oaks. Nothing particularly memorable about the game except that Jason Medearis, who was 2-way player and the fastest kid on the team (one of the best 110m HH in the state), was tackled or actually, I think, pushed out of bounds on the far sidelines. It looked perfectly harmless but he ended up with a disclocated shoulder which ended his season. This was the first of several occasions over the next several seasons that Hart lost its fastest player for the entire season. This loss may well have kept Hart from becoming a CIF champion that season as there is little doubt that lack of speed, particularly in the defensive secondary, proved fatal down the line.

The third game was against Westlake. Another game which was not particularly memorable except that Westlake had a star, unstoppable receiver named Billy Miller, later of USC and now of the NFL Texans. He was completely dominated by a sophomore corner who was at least six inches shorter named Todd Renfro, the younger brother of Hart's 1987 all-CIF quarterback.

Hart played Alemany in the fourth game. Kocicka still had trouble with the rush and would backpedal any time he got pressure from the outside and got sacked a few times for big losses. Sometime after half time in the Alemany game, he had an epiphany: step forward into the pocket and the rush goes right on by. From that point on, Mike was an excellent pocket passer, using his blockers very well.

The big pre-league game was against Eisenhower. Ike was ranked No. 2 in the nation and played Hart at COC. The interesting thing about Ike was how few kids there were on the team, well under thirty. A large number played both ways. The team was lead by Glenn Thompkins at QB, an extraordinarily quick player. He had a couple of terrific running backs behind him as well including one very big powerful guy. Ike scored first and then went to kick the extra point. Hart was called offsides so Ike's coaches seemed to say "what the heck" and went for two making it 8-0. Hart came back and scored and also went for 2 to make it 8-8. Fairly late in the game, Ike scored and made the extra point to make it 15-7. Hart scored a TD late in the fourth to make it 15-14 but the extra point went wide --AGGHH. Hart tried an onside kick but didn't get it. There was still almost three minutes left. A note here about the Ike strategy to use up time which I consider very bright. They didn't just take a knee. There was too much time left. Instead, they ran every play outside the hashmarks. The very fact that the QB runs around a bit consumes time and then, because the ball is outside the hashmarks, the refs have to move it to the hashmarks while the clock continues to run. Ike also ran a killer play. It was third down and about 5 at about the Hart 45. A straight power play probably won't get the yards. A pass by the Ike QB was not a good idea because (a) Ike was not all that good of a passing team, (b) the clocks stops with a drop and (c) there is a risk of an interception. Houk, the head coach, called the perfect play: a halfback option pass. On the snap, the QB and the RB headed to the right sideline, making the play look like a sweep. The QB pitched to the RB. I am sure the RB had been told that if he was in any trouble at all he was to simply go down, inbounds. However, he had the option to pass. The Hart defenders bit on the pitch and the linebackers and DB on that side charged up. An Ike receiver was left wide, wide open beyond them. The RB tossed up a marshmallow which was easily caught for a big gain and a first down. The clock was now easy to run out. Ike finished the year 14-0 (or was it 15-0 with one of those City-Southern Section playoffs?), ranked second in the nation. They destroyed every other opponent. Hart was the only close game. Even though it was a loss, it was huge confidence builder.

Hart easily beat all the Foothill League teams with Kocicka becoming more confident with each game. He developed some pretty good scrambling skills and, on a couple of occasions, ran for a TD right up the middle when the defense sort of split around the outside. (As will be seen below, this confidence was a little misplaced).

Hart's first playoff game was against Pasadena, the first game opponent. Hart was vastly improved and won easily. There was a two-way player on Pasadena who made some eye-popping plays: Chris McAlister, now a teammate of Hart's Kyle Boller on the Baltimore Ravens. Hart 61, Pasadena 25.

On to the quarterfinals. Hart travelled to Dominquez. Hart, like the previous season was one of the top seeds and playing one of middle seeds. In some respects, Hart didn't match up with Dominquez well. The Dominquez' four defensive backs had been part of a state championship 4x100 relay team, In other words, they were very, very fast. And, as Hart was soon to learn, hit like a ton of bricks. On the other hand, Hart wasn't a good match up for Dominquez because even though Hart didn't have a much speed, the Hart offense was vastly more sophisticated than anything Dominquez had seen.

The game went back and forth, each team seemingly scoring at will. Dominquez couldn't keep track of Hart's receivers, there always seemed to be one or two wide open. Hart couldn't catch Dominquez' receivers or backs. Here's where the loss of Medearsis started to show. Worse, Hart lost the second fastest player, McLaughlin, fairly early in the game to an ankle sprain. On of the other receivers really got nailed going across the middle. Dominquez scored late in the game to make it 44-42 with way under a minute left. Hart got the ball and moved downfield, getting down around the 20-25 (my memory is a little hazy here) with maybe 15-20 seconds left. Hart used its last timeout. I have no doubt that the instruction was pass to Soren and have him go out of bounds, then on the next play, throw to someone in the endzone or throw an incomplete. On the next play, Hart got down to the 10 with about 15 seconds left (the play must have gone out of bounds because the clock was stopped). The instruction here was, of course, to look first for Halladay in the endzone and get it to him. If no one was quickly open -- in the endzone -- throw an incomplete to stop the clock. Kocicka dropped back. He looked for and couldn't find Soren. He couldn't find any other receiver. (I'm sitting there thinking THROW IT THROW IT). Insteading of throwing and stopping the clock, Mike saw an opening straight up the middle to run to the goalline. He took off -- he'd scored from this exact position before. Of course, in the other games, it was against kids from Canyon or Saugus, not four of the fastest DBs in the state. Those DBs and linebackers converged on him like lighting and he got tackled at the 3. Three, two, one, game over. Dominquez wins. Another hugely disappointing quarterfinal loss.

Date	Location	Opponent	Score
09-09-1993	PCC	Pasadena	37-8
09-17-1993	TOHS	Thousand Oaks	24-17
09-24-1993	COC	Westlake	31-14
10-01-1993	AHS	Alemany	14-7
10-08-1993	COC	Eisenhower	14-15
10-15-1993	COC(A)	Saugus	41-21
10-23-1993	LHS	Lompoc	42-6
10-29-1993	COC	Burroughs	41-0
11-05-1993	COC	Burbank	56-7
11-12-1993	COC	Canyon	35-18
11-19-1993	COC	Pasadena	61-25
11-26-1993	DHS	Dominquez	42-44

1993 Statistical Summary

1993 Achievements and Fun Facts

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