End of the season. End of two streaks: 19 straight quarterfinal appearances and 19 consecutive winning seasons. And end of a very long drive, about 400 miles round trip.

The same problems that have existed all season were captured in a microcosm with this game -- very inconsistent passing game, inability to stop the run and turnovers or dropped balls at critical junctures.

The short story. The first quarter was scoreless with Hart recovering a fumble and absolutely stuffing a Greyhound field goal attempt.

Hart scored 2 plays into the second quarter on a 58-yard, 7-play drive to make it 7-0 very early in the second. A-town game right back with a 16-play 75-yard, 8 minute+ drive to tie it at 7-7 at half.

Hart took the second half kickoff and went 80 yards in 6 plays in the sharpest drive of the entire season to go up 14-7, a minute in the second half. Hart then made what could be considered a tactical error and a huge penalty error. Hart pooched the kickoff and A-town got it at the A-town 43, then Hart got tagged with an unsportsmanlike call which moved it 15 yards to the Hart 42.  Four plays later it was 14-14.

Hart moved the ball well at times but inconsistently. A-town go the ball back and just ran it down the Indians' throat and scored on the next possession for a 21-14 lead. On the next series, Hart went for it on an ill-advised 4th and long at the 44 with about eight minutes left, didn't get it and A-town, with a very short field, scored a few plays later to go up 28-14.

Hart came back with a nice 65-yard drive and Hart scored at 5:45 in the fourth to make it 28-21. Hart tried an onside kick and didn't get it, again giving A-town a short field. The Greyhounds then scored a couple minutes later to go up 34-21.

Hart got a 50-yard kickoff return from Allmond and started at the A-town 46 but three plays later, Hart fumbled and it was all over after A-town got another first down and took a knee or two.

The stats kind of tell it all.

In the first half, A-town's QB was 5 of 6 for 40 yards. The Greyhounds rushed for 109 yards on 28 carries (the star rusher, #23 had 87 yards on 21 carries) -- a total of 34 plays, exclusive of penalty plays. Hart rushed for 72 yards on 10 carries and Souza was 2 of 8 for 39 yards -- a total of 18 plays or almost half as many as A-town who was getting the yardage in very small pieces.

In the second half, I noted that Hart's best D-lineman remained on the sidelines and the lack of run-stopping ability, particularly in the middle started to really tell. A-town's rushers had 206 yards on 26 carries and 4 TDs in the second half (the star guy had 85 yards on 12 carries and 2 TDs and was pulled for most all of the 4th quarter, apparently injured). The QB was 3 of 5 for 30 yards.

Hart second half: Souza was 7 of 14 for 102 yards and a TD. He rushed 11 times for 25 yards (he was sacked twice for losses of about 18 yards). Stephens had 7 carries for 58 yards and a TD. Diamond had 1 carry for 10 yards. Diamond had 5 receptions for 73 yards and a TD. Borland had 1 for 20 and Glasnow had 1 for 8.

For the night Souza was 9 for 22, 141 yards and a TD. He ran 14 times for 59 yards. Stephens ran 10 times for 69 yards and 2 TDs. He also had a reception for 5 yards. Diamond had 5 carries for 37 yards and 5 catches for 58 yards and a TD. Borland had two catches for 53 yards and Glaznow 1 for 9 yards.

Here's the difference -- for the year, quite frankly -- A-town ran 65 plays (54 run, 11 pass) for a total of 384 yards, 314 on the ground.

Hart ran only 52 plays for 306 yards. That inability to stop opponents on the ground and to have a consistent passing game (when Souza was on, the receivers dropped; he also missed some targets badly so there were problems at both ends of the passing equation) spelled finis for the Hart season.

So who do I go watch next week?