I was travelling and was not able to see the game. I did however
enjoy some of the excitement of the game. One of my sons who lives in another state, listened to the game on the internet
and sent us text messages as we drove up through Las Vegas and central Nevada. Made the drive go quickly!
I have since watched the game on DVD.
Here are my comments and a summary.
Comment: Each week thing improve a bit on each side of the ball.
When Hart avoids the special teams screwups and tackles solidly, the Indians can be a formidable team. Of course, turnovers
can turn that "formidable" into "vulnerable" in a heartbeat with turnovers. We saw a little bit of both in the Righetti
game.
Summary:
Hart took the opening kickoff and started at the 23 and in a fairly workman-like
fashion moved the ball down to the Righetti 38 where a penalty and three straight incompletes forced a punt from the Righetti
43. It was a good one down to the 1.
Righetti went three and out and Hart started at the Righetti 41,
moved to the 28 on a pass to MacArthur then lost 13 on a fumble in the back field. On a fourth and long, Reyes hit Borland
for 25 yards down to the 4 and Stephens took it in on a run from there. Hart 7-0 at 2:30 in the first quarter.
Righetti went four and out and Hart started at the Hart 46.
The Indians scored on a 8-play drive, culminating with a 25-yard pass to Hairston for the TD. Hart 14-0 at 9:41
in the second quarter.
Righetti ran a seven play series that ended with a punt.
Hart got the ball at the 33, managed a first down and then on successive plays, had a pass knocked down at the line of
scrimmage and then intercepted on the next play. Righetti started at the Hart 28 but could not move the ball and kicked
a 40-yard field goal to make it 14-3 at 3:56 left in the half.
Hart's next series ended with a second interception when a pass
hit the back of a helmet of an offensive lineman. Righetti got the ball at the25 but again was able to do little and
kicked another field goal to make it 14-6 at 1:07 left in the half.
Hart took the ensuing kickoff from the 20 to the Righetti 20 on 7 plays
(including 2 spikes) but missed a field goal at the buzzer.
To start the second half, Righetti generated a little offense, going
from the 27 to the Hart 46 but was forced to punt again.
Hart started at the 13 and got to the Righetti 25 before things
stalled out and Reyes kicked a 42-yard field goal. Hart 17-6 at 3:04 in the third quarter.
Righetti: 3 and out. On the ensuing short punt, Hart started at
the Righetti 43 and moved down to the 19 before once again stalling out. Reyes kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it
20-6 Hart at 11:49 in the fourth quarter.
Righetti finally moved the ball fairly well and moved from the 20 to
the Hart 13 (most of it on a 42-yard pass) when LB Cornelius intercepted a pass and returned it to the Hart 29. That
drive ended with a 29-yard TD pass to Borland to make it 27-6 Hart at 5:02 in the fourth quarter.
Righetti finally was able to move on Hart and scored an 80-yard,
10-play drive which ended with a 10-yard pass for the TD. 27-13 at 2:58 in the fourth quarter.
Hart recovered the onside kick an ran out the clock.
The stats for Hart:
- Rushing: Stephens 57 yards on 23 carries; Reyes, 50 yards on 9 carries
- Passing: Reyes 19 of 31 (spikes count as team passes!) for 307 yards,
2 TDs and 2 INTs.
- Receiving: Borland had 138 yards on 8 catches and a TD; MacArthur had
120 yards on 8 catches; Hairston had 49 yards on 3 catches and a TD.
The Hart defense in the first half was stellar. Righetti had 60 yards rushing
on 16 carries with only one carry for as much as 10 yards. The QB was 1 for 7 and 12 yards (6 straight incompletes).
The solid defense carried over to the third quarter when Righetti had 21
yards rushing on 7 carries and the QB was 2 for 4 and 12 yards.
Righetti was fairly productive in the fourth quarter, I assume in part
because the Hart defenders were playing back a bit on defense. They had 24 yards on 3 carries. The QB was 6 of
13 for 124 yards, 1TD and 1 INT in the fourth quarter.
The Righetti totals were
- Rushing: 105 yards on 26 carries
- Passing 9 for 24, 148 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT
Westlake next week. Once again, Hart Dad will be on the road; first
time I've missed consecutive games since 1989!
