This was a game with a lot of very strange twists and turns including blocked kicks, two 50+-yard punts, counter-balanced by a 2-yard punt, lots of penalties, a very confusing non-penalty and Hart once again putting it all on the kicker's foot with :16 left. And he came through.

The first two series reflect the weirdness of the evening.

Saugus started at the 20: run by Zirbel for 3, pass for 8, PENALTY holding -12, run by Zirbel for 1, run by Lara for 14 out to the 34 and then on third down, INTERCEPTION by Dakota Luster.

Hart at the 38: run by Holbrook for 2, run by Holbrook for 2, run by Howell from the 3-back set for 17, run by Howell from the slot for -2, pass to Borland for 2, PENALTY for delay, incomplete and then the 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

On the ensuing series Saugus started at the 20, got down to the Hart 32, largely on a 27-yard pass to Biehahn, got backed out to the 38 on a fumbled exchange and then punted -- for 2 yards!

The Indians started at the 35: run by Howell for 9, run by Holbrook for 7, run by Howell for 1 out to the 50. On the next play Howell went for 50 yards down the left side (the Saugus side) for a TD. But wait! There was a flag back at the line of scrimmage. The preliminary call: holding. There followed a long discussion among the striped shirt crowd near the goal line. Then the signal: touchdown Hart! The ref then signaled what appeared to me as "delay of game." The Saugus faithful and coaching staff were pretty upset (and Hart Dad was sitting on the Saugus side and still has no idea what the penalty flag was for and why nothing happened back at the line of scrimmage). The PAT missed. Hart 6-0 at 1:21 in the first quarter.

Saugus scored on the next series early in the second quarter 6-play, 53-yard drive. Zirbel had about 30 yards on the kickoff return to give the Cents the field position. The TD came on a 23-yard pass to Biehahn and Saugus kicked the PAT. Saugus 7-6 at 9:45 in the second.

Hart tried the "star burst"return play in which five players group tightly around the ball returner and then all take off just as the kicking team arrives. The idea is to create confusion as to who has the ball. Hart last ran this play against Saugus in 1996 and it went for a TD. Saugus was not fooled and Hart started the next series on the 4 after a personal foul following the end of the play. Hart then went on a 16-play drive for the TD, culminating with a 7-yard pass to Howell who lined up as a wide receiver. Hart went for two on the PAT and Diamond made a great comeback catch on a tough throw by a harried Holbrook. Hart 14-7 at 3:05.

Saugu came right back on a 7-play 74-yard drive (the key being a 34-yard Rodriguez run) and scored on a 3-yard run by Zirbel. 14-14 with a minute to play in the half.

Hart had a couple of timeouts left and clearly was going to make an effort to score after the kickoff (there were two kickoffs, the first went out of bounds and Hart made Saugus kick again rather than taking it on the 35). Ultimately ended up going backwards because of a holding and an illegal procedure penalty. On fourth down, Saugus made no attempt to block so Howell just stood back there and waited and waited and waited and then ran out of bounds after the time expired.

Second half:

Hart started off badly: -6 on a sack, incomplete, pass for -4 to Diamond and punt.

Saugus moved from the 45 down to the Hart 8 on 3-yard and 44-yard runs by Zirbel. There was no progress after that and Saugus tried a 24-yard field goal that was blocked by Demitri Diamond.

Hart got the ball at the 20 and moved out to the 38 on 4 plays. Then the play of the night for Hart. Holbrook threw a short pass out to the left about 10 yards downfield on a hook pattern to Souza who then pitched it to Howell who ran through, around and by the Saugus team for the 62-yard TD. Hart 21-14 at 5:08 in the third.

Hart went with an onside kick and got it. And then went three and out.

Saugus ran two plays and then Rodriquez threw an INTERCEPTION to Adam Bouyer, a Hart D-lineman at the 27. There was a great play for a lineman who came clear across the field and made a diving catch near the sideline.

Hart once again did some "foot shooting" and failed to take advantage of a great effort: a hold, an illegal procedure and then an INTERCEPTION.

Saugus got the ball on the 31: run by Rodgriquez for 4, run by Zirbel for 4. On the next play, Hart guessed that on 3rd and 2, Zirbel would run up the middle. Good guess. Larimore came flying in there. Wrong hole. Zirbel went straight up the middle 61-yards for the TD. 21-21 at 10:05 in the fourth.

Hart got very little on the next series because of two consecutive illegal procedure calls and was forced to punt.

Saugus went three and out primarily because Hart was extraordinarily lucky when Rodriquez hit a wide open receiver right in the hands, right down the middle of the field who dropped it. It was followed by a 51-yard punt.

Hart started at the 18 and got out to the 25 before punting -- a 54-yarder (all these long punts were flat and rolled a lot).

Saugus went three and out and Hart started at the 39 with 2:44 left. Hart got down to the 12 with :20 left and McArthur kicked his 2nd game winning field goal of the year from 29 yards to give Hart a 24-21 lead at :16.

After the kick off, Zirbel ran twice and then Saugus tried a Hail Mary that fell incomplete.

The stats for the game:

Howell 202 yards on 29 carries (he was credited with a long run on the hook-and-ladder play). Holbrook had 30 yards rushing on 15 carries which reflects just how harried he was by the Saugus defense. He was 12 of 23 for 139 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Howell also had 6 catches for 61 yards. Hart had 9 penalties for 66 yards, most of which killed drives.

Zirbel had 201 yards on 20 carries and 2 catches for 4 yards. Rodriguez had 52 yards on 10 carries and was 5 of 11 for 48 yards, 1 TD and two INTs.

A couple of thoughts. I thought the Hart offense showed considerably more potential against the Saugus defense than is reflected in the score. The problem: penalties at the most inopportune times and some pretty conservative play-calling after Hart had rocked Saugus on the hook-and-ladder followed by a recovered on-side kick and the series following the Bouyer interception.

Regarding the Saugus defense: they smacked the heck out of Holbrook, really were on his tail all night long.

Regarding the Hart defense: it was great to have Larimore, club hand and all, in there.