AGH! How did this happen?

Hart had 307 yards in the first half yet trailed 14-13. Hart finished the game with 472 net yards managed only a lousy tie. In comparison, Valencia had 206 yards in the first half and only 304 for the game (less than Hart's first half output) and came out smellin' like a rose with that tie.

AGH!

The absolute killers for Hart: in the first half, Hart got down to the Valencia 5 and then fumbled. On the ensuing Valencia series, the Vikings went nowhere for the first three downs then the Hart defense just gave away all that effort with a roughing the punter on 4th and 11 from the Hart 22. To make matters worse, a few plays later, Hart got tagged with a roughing the passer penalty. Valencia ended up scoring, getting 30 yards in penalties on a 77-yard drive, both penalties being WHOLLY within Hart's control.

Tonight, the Indians started out VERY well and did a number of variations on old stuff plus some new stuff and were up 13-0 in the first quarter after only 2 possessions. A new little wrinkle in the 3-back offense on Hart’s second possession caught Valencia off balance and Diamond caught a 66-yard TD pass. Hart had 176 yards in the first quarter. Hart got increasingly cautious through the rest of the first half. In the second half, Hart threw an interception on the first possession but moved the ball steadily on the second possession and scored at the end of the quarter but then once again became cautious and fairly predictable through the rest of the game.

Play-by-play.

Valencia kicked off out of bounds and also went off sides. Hart elected to have the Vikes kick it again. This time, Valencia pooched it and Souza, one of the up guys got about an 8-yard return and Hart started at the 41. Holbrook ran for 8 on the first play and then passed to Howell for a 52-yard TD with Howell simply outrunning pretty much the entire Valencia defense to the endzone. Hart 7-0 at 11:12.

Valencia got a short return out to the 29: run by Hale for 5, run by Hale for 3, run by Hale for 19 (on a pitch play he fumbled the ball and it looked to be a surefire big loss but the Hart tackler missed him as he searched for the ball and he somehow escaped for the big gain); incomplete, run by Hale for 3, incomplete and punt. Both incompletes were way off the mark - not so later in the game when Wilbert really put the ball on the mark.

Hart got no return and started at the 1: run by Howell for 6 (pure strength and determination, right up the middle), run by Howell on a pitch for -3, PENALTY for delay of game for -2 putting Hart back on the 2-yard line, pass to Diamond for 16, run by Howell for 3, run by Holbrook for 5, run by Howell for 3, run by Holbrook for 5, run by Howell for 0 and then pass to Diamond for 66 on a very nice variant with a twist of the 3-back set that Hart first used against Canyon. The PAT missed. Hart 13-0 at 3:16 of the first quarter.

Valencia got a 19-yard return to the 20: run by Tartabull on a reverse for -8 (a fumble on the exchange caused the loss), pass to Hale for 9, pass to Tartabull for 21, run by Hale for 2, pass to Tartabull for 6, pass to Guzman(?) for 5 [END OF QUARTER], run by Hale for 6, pass to Guzman for 4, pass to Hale for 32 (he faked a block and then headed up the right sideline, wholly uncovered), run by Hale for 0 and then run by Hale for 3 and the TD. Hart 13-7 at 9:35.

Valencia once again kicked the ball out of bounds. Hart made the Vikes kick it again and ended up recovering a pooch kick at the 34: Pitch to Howell for 28, pass to Diamond for 16, run by Howell for 2, run by Holbrook for 11, run by Holbrook for 4 down to the 5-yard line and then run by Holbrook for 0. On the next play, it was hard to tell what Hart had in mind. Was Holbrook going run all the way off the right tackle? Or was it the Florida Gators jump pass? What ever it was, it ended up as a FUMBLE which came squirting out of the pile and was recovered by Valencia at the 23.

Valencia at the 23: run by Hale for -1, incomplete, incomplete (holding penalty declined) then the next big killer play. On fourth and 11, the Hart MLB tried to block the punt and came very close but didn't get a piece of the ball and hit the punter – +15 for Valencia on the PENALTY, run by Wilbert for 2, pass to London for 13 plus PENALTY for a late hit on Wilbert for another 15, then pass to Max (the guy with the long Greek name) for the TD. Valencia 14-13 at 4:46 in the second quarter.

Valencia once again pooched the ball and Hart started at the 20: run by Holbrook from the 3-back (3B formation) for 14, incomplete from the 3B, run by Howell on a pitch from the 3B, run by Diamond over the right tackle for 15 from the 3B, run by Holbrook for 5 out of the 3B (he was flushed), run by Holbrook for 4, run by Holbrook for -3 (this was a running play, not a sack), PENALTY for illegal procedure for -5 and then on fourth down, incomplete. This was a VERY fortunate call for Hart as it appeared Holbrook had been sacked for a big loss.

Valencia at the 30: incomplete, PENALTY for holding -18, pass to Max for 14, pass to London for 17, PENALTY for intentional grounding -13, incomplete (drop), pass to Tartabull for 16 and punt.

Hart got no return and started at the 19 with :34 left in the half: incomplete, run by Howell on a draw for 13, SPIKE [under NCAA stat-keeping rules, spikes are credited as team passes, not charged to the QB], pass to Howell for 8, run by Howell for 11 on a draw, SPIKE and then SACK for -2 to end the half

Some numbers: In the first half Holbrook was 5 of 8 for 158 yards and 2 TDs [the spikes are not supposed to be counted in his totals. He rushed for 51 yards on 12 carries, and, unfortunately had the fumble. Howell had 83 yards on 10 carries and Diamond had 15 yards on 1 carry for a total of 307 yards from scrimmage for the half.

Valencia first half: Hale had 40 yards on 9 carries and a TD. Wilbert was 12 of 17 for 172 yards and a TD. He ran for 2 yards on 1 carry and Tartabull ran for -8 on a reverse for a total of 206 yards in the half.
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Second half:

(Hart had to kick twice because of an offsides on the kick and Valencia ended up starting at the 30: run by Hale for 3, run by Hale on a pitch for 2, pass to London for 7 (this was caught out of bounds and though he was pushed, there was no chance from my perspective that he would have been inbounds without the push), run by Hale for -1, SACK for -8, incomplete and punt.

Hart got a very short return from Howell and started at the 22: run by Howell for 2 and then INT. I have no idea who the QB was trying to hit because there was no receiver near the ball and he really zipped it. Apparently, the QB threw left, expecting a receiver to cut left toward the middle of the field but the receiver cut right.

Valencia at the Hart 3: incomplete, run by Hale for 3, incomplete, pass to Max for 9 down to the Hart 2, PENALTY for holding -11, pass to Tartabull for 3, incomplete, SACK for - 4 (putting the ball on the 36, exactly where the drive had started) then punt -- which was shanked for no net yards.

Hart at the Valencia 36: run by Diamond for 4 out of the 3B, run by Holbrook out of the 3B for 5, run by Howell for 2, run by Holbrook for 4, PENALTY for illegal procedure -5 (ten guys took off on their assignments; the center didn't snap the ball which was kind of funny actually) , incomplete, pass to Howell for 15, pass to Borland for 14, pitch to Howell for 6, run by Howell for 11, run by Howell for 7, run by Howell for 3 and the TD. After some confusion and a timeout, Hart went for 2 and Holbrook completed the pass to Felt. Hart 21-14 at 1:44 in the third.

Valencia got a 26-yard return out to the 36: run by Hale for 1, pass to London for 13, run by Hale for -1, pass to London for 12 [END OF QUARTER], run by Hale for 5, run by Hale for 1, pass to London for 16 and then pass to Tartabull for 18 yards and the TD. 21-21 at 9:52.

Hart got no return on the kickoff (another pooch) and started at the 21: run by Howell out of the 3B for 0, pitch to Howell from the 3B for 4, incomplete (pass interference?) and punt.

Valencia at the 26: pass to Guzman for 11, run by Hale for 9, run by Hale for 0, run by Wilbert for 1, PENALTY for holding -11, incomplete (Hart had inserted Howell as a DE and his presence clearly was giving Valencia some trouble), incomplete on a trick play (handoff to Hale, pitch back to Wilbert who dropped it, then picked it up and passed it), SACK for -8 and punt from the 28 (note that this drive, which consumed over 3 minutes, only gained only 2 yards from it’s starting point).

Hart got no return and started at the 24: run by Howell up the middle for 20, run by Howell up the middle for 22, run by Howell for -1 (he looked to be CLEARLY out of bounds and never went down but the ref signaled "run the clock"?), run by Holbrook for -3, then an almost perfect pass to Diamond -- almost being the critical word -- which was incomplete around the goal line [two inches less on the pass or two inches more on Diamond's last stride and it would've been a spectacular completion] and then incomplete to Howell on 4th down (it looked like Holbrook got hit as he threw which caused him to throw the ball high and it looked like Howell lost it in the lights as he was looking back and across the field).

Valencia at the 36 with 3:13: pass to ? for 10, incomplete (woulda/coulda/shoulda/been a pick), run by Hale for 1, SACK for -1 (holding penalty declined) and punt.

Hart at the 33 with 1:58 left: run by Holbrook for 5, run by Howell for 10, run by Holbrook for 4 (all these on Hart's basic shotgun formation, run up the middle plays) then pass to Souza for 35 down to the 13.

Now it goes from "what?" to really weird: run by Howell for 1 up the middle to the 12 on Hart’s basic shotgun running play (time out, Hart), from the 3B, run by Howell up the middle for 2 to the 10-yard line, then sack for -7 (Hart called it's last time out, having used one on the PAT earlier in the half). Hart set up for a field goal at the 17. The ball was snapped and placed. The kick was blocked BUT, there was a PENALTY for off side. Valencia called a time out. The refs never moved the ball forward five yards! The fans went nuts! As near as I can figure out, the refs waived off the penalty (but gave no such signal), saying that Valencia called timeout before the play started. Hart set up again. This time the kick was very low and short, thus, no good.

Valencia got the ball back with 4 seconds left, incomplete and it was over.

Second half: Holbrook was 3 of 8 for 64 yards and an INT. He ran for 8 yards on 6 carries. Howell had 89 yards on 14 carries and Diamond had 4 yards on 1 carry for a total of 165 yards in the half.

Valencia second half: Hale had 16 yards on 11 carries. Wilbert was 9 of 17 for 102 yards and a TD. He rushed 5 times for -20 yards for a total of 98 net yards in the half.

What can I say. Hart came out at the beginning of the game firing on all cylinders and then, after the first two possessions particularly on offense, frequently seemed to get very complacent and pretty darn predictable. I am truly astonished how little advantage is taken of Holbrook's throwing ability. He's a good QB but the play calling simply doesn't give him much opportunity to throw. I haven't added it up but I bet he hasn't throw more than about 8 yards or more down field 6 times in the last four games (I'm not suggesting airing it out all the time but the really productive passing zone at this point in the season are routes about 12-20 yards downfield with a lot of catch and run). This has really been the case in the last three games in the last 3 quarters, particularly in the second half.

I hope the kids are angry at tie. Really angry. Take some of it out on GV. But really take it out on the Cents.