When I wrote my pre-game comments earlier in the week, I noted that Valencia was heavily favored and that for Hart to prevail, the Indians would have to do three things: (1) win the turnover battle, (2) perform well on punts and kickoffs, and (3) tackle well.  On further reflection on the season as a whole, I’d throw in a fourth area that has had a huge impact on the Indians’ fortunes – start decently.

Unfortunately, there were problems in each area.

Turnover battle – Hart had five (three interceptions and two fumbles), Valencia had one fumble. Valencia turned three of the Hart turnovers into a very short field followed by touchdowns. Hart did not capitalize on the Valencia fumble.

Special teams – Hart had one very short punt for 17 yards, which gave Valencia a short field and shortly thereafter, a TD. Hart also gave up a 22-yard return on a punt for another short field and a quick score.  There followed a 37-yard kickoff return to open the second half which also set up a score.

Tackle well – Didn’t happen, especially in the first half. Better in the second half.

Start well – On the first 10 passes, Hart was 2 of 10 for 34 yards. On only one of the miscues was the Valencia defense a factor (a knockdown). There were no sacks and no QB flushes; the point is that, early on, it was not so much the Valencia defense as Hart flaws that lead to an unproductive start. In comparison, Valencia was 9 for 10, 115 yards and 2 TDs. The Viking QB was flushed only once while trying to pass on those first ten attempts – and gained 10 yards. I hadn’t given the "start well" factor a whole lot of thought until I noticed that in each Hart loss, Hart was buried early (26-0 vs. ECR at half, 32-7 vs. Westlake at half and 35-0 vs. Valencia at half). In Hart’s wins, the Indians have not necessarily scored a lot of first half points but have moved the ball well.

Now to the summary.

Hart took the opening kickoff, started at the 27 and went three and out. Unfortunately the punt only went 17 yards and Valencia started at the Hart 42. The Vikes started out the game very efficiently and scored on five plays, the TD came on an 8-yard pass to Nyberg. 7-0 at 9:46.

Hart started at the 26 and again went three and out. Reyes got off a very nice punt and after a fair catch, Valencia started at their own 32. It didn’t slow ‘em down and the Vikes scored in 5 plays (despite two penalties), the TD on a 41-yard pass to Manfro (short pass, long run). 14-0 at 7:49.

Hart again went three and out (and had yet to complete a pass at that point). Vereen had a 22-yard return to the Hart 44 and Valencia scored 3 plays later on a 19-yard run by Manfro. 21-0 at 6:09 in the first quarter.

Hart started the next series at the 36 and moved the ball well, getting down to the Valencia 8 before running out of downs. Valencia was able to get out the 24 when a penalty, followed by a sack (the first of five for the Hart defense) forced a Valencia punt.

Hart started at the 40 and looked to have some possibilities but a sack (the first of 7 for the Valencia defense) followed by an interception quickly squelched the drive. On the next series, Hart held again and forced another punt. Hart moved, tepidly, from the Indian 30 to the Valencia 41 before once again running out of downs.

Valencia scored 6 plays later (despite another sack) on an 18-yard run by Manfro to make it 28-0 Valencia at 3:09 left in the half.

Hart started at the 34 but lost the ball four plays later on a fumble after a completed pass (stripped by the defender). Valencia took over at the Hart 41 and despite two holding penalties (the 3^rd and 4^th of the night) scored on a 55-yard run by QB Bishop after he had been flushed out of the pocket. Valencia 35-0 at 1:34 in the half.

Hart finished out the half with a short completion followed by two sacks.

First half stats:

Hart

• Rushing - Stephens 7 carries for 18 yards, Reyes 6 for -6 (3 sacks) and Hairston 1 for -2.
• Passing - 6 of 17 for 76 yards and 1 interception.

Valencia

• Rushing - Manfro 4-49 yards and 2 TDs, Bishop 8 for 92 and 1 TD (2 sacks)
• Passing - 13-17 for 172 yards and 2 TDs.

Second half

Valencia got a 37-yard return by Tartabull and started at the 40. The Vikings scored six plays later on an 8-yard run by Manfro. 42-0 at 10:21 in the third.

Hart then went 3 and out followed by a Valencia 3 and out. On the next series, Hart started at the 29 and scored in two plays, an 18-yard pass to King followed by a 53-yard pass to Hairston for the TD. 42-7 at 5:26 in the third.

Valencia again went three and out (including sack #4) and Hart started at the 22. Hart did not move well and on 4^th down tried a trick play on the punt. The snap went to the short man who then pitched it to Reyes who was going to pass when the ball was knocked from his hand and Valencia recovered at the Hart 20. The next play was a 20-yard pass to Rodriguez for the TD. Valencia 49-7 at :59 left in the third.

Hart once again moved the ball into Valencia territory but ran out of down at the Viking 41. Valencia then had the first error of the night when the snap was fumbled and Hart recovered at the Hart 20. The euphoria didn’t last long. The next play was an interception by Vereen who returned it to the Hart 1. Manfro scored two plays later to make it 56-7 at 6:21 in the fourth.

Hart got another nice return from MacArthur and started at te 45. Hart moved to the Valencia 30 but then another interception at the goal line ended the drive. The Valencia subs came in for three plays and it was over.

Second half stats:

• Rushing: Stephens had 5 yards on 5 carries; Reyes had -5 yards on 5 carries (a net 0 in case anyone didn’t notice).
• Passing: 6 of 16 for 100 yards, 2 INTS and 1 INT.

Valencia:

• Rushing: Manfro 7 carries for 31 yards and 2 TDs, Bishop 4 carries for 16 yards
• Passing: 3 for 4 for 44 yards and 1 TD.

Big nights: Manfro had 90 yards rushing, 54 yards receiving and a total of 5 TDs. For Hart, MacArthur had 200 yards on 7 kickoff returns and 1 punt return. He also had 2 catches for 39 yards.

Comments: For much of the game, Valencia was in a no huddle, "pistol" offense. I don’t think the pistol was new but I got the feeling the "no huddle" was. Valencia was popping off a play about every 20 seconds or less for awhile.

Valencia’s stock-in-trade has been short passes underneath. I was very surprised at two aspects of the Hart defense. 

First, given that two starting defensive linemen had been benched for brawling the previous week (Hart rotates five players in the four defensive line spots in it's usual 4-3 defense) and because of the type of offense Valencia runs, I would have thought Hart would have gone to a 3-4 defense thus avoiding replacing the two suspended players and, at the same time inserting another defender into the midst of the short receiver routes that Valencia favors.  I don't know the players well enough to know if another linebacker or a fifth DB was even available. 

Second, I was even more surprised to see Hart frequently playing with both safeties very deep and the DBs and linebackers well off the line, essentially conceding that part of the field where the Vikings are/were the most productive. Later in the game, Hart starting playing all 11 up tight and Valencia’s productivity in the second half dropped considerably (except when Hart gave 'em the really short field following an interception [on the 1-yard line] and a fumble [on the 20-yard line]. The last couple of Viking scores were because of the very short field and far less about the really porous defense of the first half.

The Hart tackling remains a problem with the first guy in contact rarely bringing down the ball carrier. Conversely, only once or twice during the game did the Viking defensive player with the first contact fail to bring down the Hart ball carrier.  It was a very noticeable contrast.

A comment on the offense.  Hart must have some major league "tells" on it's running plays.  I watched the DVD of the game and on several of the running plays, the Valencia linebackers -- all three of them -- reacted instantly, sometimes even before the ball was handed off, charging forward and not giving a moment's thought to pass coverage.

Hart Dad lives for Hart football on Friday (7-56), USC on Saturday (20-47) and the Packers (26-38) on Sunday. What a depressing weekend.

The nice thing about blowouts is there no point spending any time on "what might have been".

Next week, a fired up West Ranch.