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I suspect what I saw tonight was much the same thing as occurred last week in the Saugus-Canyon game. As I recall that game
was 14-7 at half and then things fell apart for Saugus in the third quarter.
It was somewhat similar tonight. Saugus was not particularly effective on offense in the first half but it was still a
close game at 17-7 at halftime.
It was scoreless in the third and then the wheels completely fell off the train for Saugus. Quite frankly, it looked like
about 2/3 of the way through the third quarter, the Saugus defenders, particularly the line, completely ran out of gas. What
had been no or short gains for Hart kept getting longer and longer.
You've heard me comment a number of times about tepid play-calling by Hart. Well, I'm here to tell you that the play-calling
in Hart's first drive was MAGNIFICENT. Heretofore, I've found that I could guess the basic play about 75% of the time. There
were a lot of little nuances and change-ups that altered my view tonight. There was one play, however, that Hart ran twice
that was modestly effective. Against a faster team -- and you heard it here first -- it ain't gonna work. Put that one back
in the vault for awhile.
Pettee's passing was about as sharp as ANY quarterback I've seen at Hart. He was 11 of 13 in the first half for 117 yards
and a touchdown. He was 7-9 for 104 with two touchdowns in the second half. Of the four incompletes, one was a drop [the receiver
was a little over-confident and ran without getting the ball tucked away]. One he put low deliberately, too low as it turns
out. He had one downfield that was a little short and I don't recall the fourth miss. The point is, he was putting the ball
on the money and the receivers were really latching on to it.
Howell's running was moderately effective in the first half - 12 carries for 64 yards (5 yards a carry) and a TD. In the
second half, it seemed like Saugus simply wore out and he trampled them: 9 carries for 91 yards (10 yards a carry) and 2 TDs.
The Hart defense was stifling. Saugus had 111 yards in the first half, almost half of that on one play.
In the second half, while the Hart starters were still on the field, Saugus had a total of 39 yards. The Centurions got
another 47 yards and a TD when the subs were in the game.
Some games, even when you have a big lead it seems close. Others, even when the score is relatively even, you know your
guys are in control. That was the case tonight.
Here is the play by play.
Howell got 15 yards on the return and Hart started on the 23: pass to Arndt for 13, pass to Davis for 1, run by Howell
for 5 on a pseudo reverse (he was in a slot position in an empty backfield), run by Pettee for 15, run by Howell for 1, pass
to Heirshberg for 12, pass to Howell for 8 and run by Howell for 22 and the touchdown. Hart 7-0 at 7:58 of the first quarter.
Zirbel returned the Hart kickoff 14 yards to the 21: pass to Wright for 10, incomplete, run by Zirbel for 3, SACK for
-3 and punt.
Hart at the 42: pass to Arndt for 0, incomplete, pass to Davis for 8, and on fourth down and a very high snap, a fake
punt by Howell and run for 6 and the first down (was it intentional or caused by the high snap? - the coaches were shaking
their heads); run by Howell for 6, run by Howell for 2, run by Pettee for 2, pass to Davis for 10, run by Howell for 4, run
on an option by Pettee for 2, PENALTY offsides, run by Howell for 4 on a broken play [END OF QUARTER], run by Pettee for -2
and pass to Arndt for 17 and a touchdown. Hart 14-0 at 11:11 of the second quarter.
Zirbel returned the kick 16 yards to the 24: run by Zirbel for -1, pass to Monson for 10, run by the QB (sneak for 2,
run by Zirbel for -1, run by Zirbel for 46 [this was the one REALLY bad break down for Hart the entire evening], pass to Wright
for 19 and the touchdown. 14-7 at 8:23 in the second quarter.
Howell got about a yard on the return (he dropped the ball) (looked bad for Hart),SACK for -3 (looked even worse for Hart),
run by Howell for 3 (looked good for Hart) PENALTY for personal foul after the play so -3 (looked very bad), pass to Arndt
for 35 (got out of the jam! whew!), run by Howell for 11, run by Howell for 3, pass to Ardnt for 10, pass to Arndnt for 3,
run by Pettee for 2, run by Pettee for 11, then the true trick play of the night -- a long lateral to Larimore, an offensive
lineman (and the middle linebacker) for 17, run by Howell for 2, run by Howell for 1, incomplete and then a 20-yard field
goal by Mendenhall. Hart 17-7 at 1:43.
Here is where I cannot figure out what was going through the Saugus' mind. They got the ball at the 35 because the kick
went out of bounds. There was 1:43 on the clock and they had two timeouts: incomplete, run by Zirbel on a draw in the middle
of the field for 10 (no timeout called and everyone just kind of mosied back to the huddle and then up to the line), run by
the QB for 3 (times a wastin' fellas!), pass to Zirbel for 14 and then pass to Wright for 9. He was clobbered and fumbled.
Hart recovered with 29 seconds left and took a knee.
First half: Pettee was 11 of 13 for 117 yards and 1 TD. Howell was had 64 yards on 12 carries. Pettee ran for 27 yards
on 7 carries and was sacked once. Larimore had 17 yards on one carry.
The Saugus QB was 5 of 7 for 62 yards and a TD. He ran for net 2 yards on 3 carries including a sack. Zirbel had 57 yards
on 5 carries. But for that one run, Saugus was pretty much contained.
Second half.
After a 20-yard return, Saugus started at the 30: QB run for 7, QB run for 3, QB run for 1, Zirbel run for -1, pass to
Monson for 8, run (46?) for -1 and punt.
Hart at the 11: run by Howell for 1, pass to Vairo for 2, pass to Arndt for 36, run by Howell for 3, incomplete (Arndt
did a good job knocking the ball out of the defender's hand), incomplete (big drop - ran before he caught it), punt.
Saugus got a PENALTY for blocking in the back so the Centurions started at the 9: run by Zirbel for -1, incomplete, incomplete
and punt.
Hart got a 7-yard return and started at the Saugus 40: run by Howell for 5, PENALTY for illegal procedure -5, SACK for
-2, pass to Davis for 12, run by Howell for 12 on that reverse with an empty backfield, PENALTY for illegal motion -5, pass
to Heirshberg for 11, pass to Howell for 0, run by Howell for 6 [END OF QUARTER, run by Howell for 5, run by Howell for 1
and the touchdown. Hart 24-7 at 11:23 in the fourth quarter.
Monsen returned the kickoff 22 yards and Saugus started at the 34: incomplete and INTERCEPTION by Ardnt on a deep pass
(Arndt was on the far side of the receiver; it looked like a pass to him).
Arndt returned the ball about 20 yards and Hart started at the 42: pass to Davis for 1, run by Pettee for 11, run by Howell
for 22 and pass to Heirshberg for 42 and the touchdown. Hart 31-7 at 8:53.
Zirbel returned the kickoff 22 yards and Saugus started at the 31: Zirbel run for 5, pass to Wright for 3, QB fumble for
-3 and on 4th down, incomplete (tipped at line of scrimmage).
Hart at the Saugus 36: run by Howell for 36 and the touchdown. The PAT missed (darn, we were on a roll with those things!).
Hart 37-7 at 7:09 in the fourth.
Saugus got a 25-yard return and started at the 28: run by QB for 7, run by QB for -2, pass to Wright for 12, PENALTY for
pass interference +15, run by QB (flushed) for 0, incomplete, incomplete and on fourth down, incomplete.
Hart at the 40 (all the starters out): run by Holbrook for 3, run by Levingston for3, PENALTY for delay -5, run by Levingston
for 2 and punt.
Saugus (Centurion starters against Hart second team): pass for 19 and PENALTY for roughing the passing for another 15,
pass to Wright for 6, pass to Zirbel for 22 and the touchdown. Hart 37-13 (the PAT was blocked) at 1:44.
Hart got a 20-yard return from Levingston: run by Levingston for -2, PENALTY for illegal substitution +5, Levingston for
-4 and it was over.
Second half stats: Pettee was 7 of 9 for 104 yards and 2 TDs. Howell had 91 yards on 9 carries and 1 TD. Pettee had two
carries for 9 yards including a sack.
The Saugus QB was 5 of 14 for 70 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Those numbers are inflated somewhat by the fact
that 3 of the completions and the TD came after the Hart starters had left the game.
Zirbel had 3 yards on 3 carries and the QB had 13 yards on 7 carries. One other player had 1 carry for -1.
Hart's defense really controlled the game. Outside of the one play by Zirbel in the first half, Saugus basically went
no where all night.
The Hart passing game was very sharp. The only weaknesses for Hart tonight: an inability to really pound the ball inside
for most of the game. Those linemen need a few more opportunities to attack. On the other hand, the protection was great.
Now we have to wait for Sunday to check out the brackets. About the only thing we know for sure is that Hart will be in
the bracket opposite Canyon.
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