The fans got their money's worth. Despite what the Canyon faithful would like to believe, this was a very, very close game regardless of the final margin. How close was it? Canyon was leading 27-25 with 40 seconds to play. Total offense: Canyon 359 yards versus Hart's 357. Canyon had a big edge rushing. Hart had a big edge passing. Canyon had the edge in the first half. Hart had the edge in the second half. DiLuigi had 4 TDs, Howell had 4 TDs. Hart coulda/woulda/shoulda won. Canyon ended up winning by 16 and coulda/woulda/shoulda won by more.

When all was said and done, Canyon did a little better job than Hart taking advantage of their own strengths and cutting down on Hart's. It was a very good game. But it's oh so hard to say it was a great game when your own guys lose.

Play by play:

Canyon returned the opening kickoff 19 yards out to the 29: pass on a rollout to Loucks for 9, run by Longshore for 3, run by DiLuigi for 16, run by DiLuigi for 1, pass to Urbina for 4, incomplete (big hit by Reyes), on fourth down, run by a DiLuigi on a pitch for -4.

Hart at the 43: pass to Vairo along the sideline line for 15, run by Howell for 1, pass to Ardnt for 20, penalty illegal procedure -5, incomplete, pass to Ardnt for 12, SACK (blitz) for -6, pass to Heirshberg for 17 on a terrific catch, run by Howell for 1, run by Howell for 3 and the TD. The PAT was blocked. 6-0 Hart at 4:50 of the first quarter.

Canyon got a 15-yard return by DiLuigi out to the 35: run by DiLuigi for 5, run by Longshore for 17, run by DiLuigi for 9, run by DiLuigi for 2, penalty (?) -5, incomplete (knock down by Levingston at the last second, a hair's breadth from a TD), incomplete (a hair&'s breadth from an interception by Holbrook), incomplete (a drop at the goal line on blown coverage by Hart WHEW!), punt.

Hart (no return) at the 20: pass to Howell for -5, incomplete, incomplete, punt.

Canyon got a 3-yard return to the Hart 49: run by DiLuigi for 18 on a draw, SACK -1 [END OF QUARTER], pass to Urbina for 10, run by DiLuigi for -1, run by DiLuigi for 5, incomplete, incomplete, run by DiLuigi for 16, run by DiLuigi for 1, run by DiLuigi for1 and the TD. 7-6 Canyon at 9:12 in the second quarter.

Hart got a 20-yard return by Howell to the 30: run by Howell for 4, Pettee run for 2, pass to Vairo for 9, run by Howell for 8 (straight up the middle), run by Pettee for 3, run by Pettee for 8 plus 15 yards for a late hit penalty, run by Howell up the middle for the 13, run by Howell on a pitch for 0, incomplete, pass to Howell for 12 and the TD on a spectacular leaping twisting catch. Hart went for 2 on the PAT but the pass to Vairo was completed just in front of the goal line. Hart 12-7 at 5:21 of the second quarter.

Canyon got a 24-yard return by DiLuigi to the 31: pass to Ariega for 11, run by DiLuigi for 6 (he completely reversed his field on this one), incomplete, pass to Kingsbury for19, incomplete, pass to Kingsbury for 14, run by DiLuigi for 14 on a draw, run by DiLuigi for 2, and run by DiLuigi for 1 and the TD. Canyon faked a kick and passed to DiLuigi who was stopped well short of the end zone. Canyon 13-12 at 1:59.

Hart (no return) at the 20: SACK for -5, incomplete, incomplete and punt (squibber).

Canyon: pass to DiLuigi (screen) for 2, pass to DiLuigi for 16 plus 13 more for a facemask penalty, run by DiLuigi for 10, run by DiLuigi for 3, and the TD. The PAT was good. Canyon 20-12 at :26.

On a squib kick, Howell got about 5 on the return and started on the 15: knee and the half was over.

Pettee was 7 of 13 for 85 yards and 1 touchdown. He ran for 5 yards on 3 carries including 2 sacks. Howell ran for 30 yards on 7 carries and 1 TD (he also had the receiving TD), he also had 20 yards on 1 return.

For Canyon, Longshore was 9 of 16 for 87 yards. He ran for 19 yards on 3 carries including a sack. DeLuigi ran 18 times for 105 yards on 18 carries and 3 TDs.

Canyon had a significant first half statistical edge, gaining 90 yards more than Hart and running 37 plays to Hart's 25. Much of that edge was attributable to the drive just before half time which, in hindsight, turns out to have been fatal to Hart.

Second half

Hart got a 17-yard return by Howell to the 27: run by Howell for 4, pass to Davis for 9, run by Howell for 3, run by Pettee for 0, pass to Heirshberg for 15 who was hit, the ball popped out, was caught by Davis in the air and run down the field an additional 39 yards to the Canyon 5; run by Howell for 4, penalty for illegal procedure -5, SACK for -5, penalty for dealy for -5 (the ball is now on the 16!), incomplete. Hart attempted a field goal which appeared to be blocked, nevertheless, the refs called roughing the kicker and the ball was moved to the 8 and a first down for Hart; Howell ran for 8 and the TD. Hart's attempt for 2 for failed. Canyon 20-18 at 7:22 in the third quarter.

Hart attempted an onside kick which just about perfect but slipped away from a Hart player and was recovered at the Canyon 38: run by DiLuigi for 16, run by Longshore for 39, run by DiLuigi for 3, run by Longshore for 4 around the left side for the TD. Canyon 27-18 with 5:39 in the third.

Hart got a 40-yard return from Howell to the Canyon 47: run by Howell for -1, pass to Vairo for 14, pass to Ardnt for 12, fumble by Pettee but recovered by Hart for -7, incomplete (tipped), run by Pettee (flushed) for 19, pass to Howell for 11, run by Howell for -3 and then pass to Howell for 8 and the TD. Canyon 27-25 at 2:12 in the third quarter.

Canyon got a 16-yard by DiLuigi to the 21: pass to Loucks for -1, run by DiLuigi on a draw for 8, run by Longshore for 6, run by Longshore (flush) for 1 [END OF QUARTER], run by DiLuigi for -5, incomplete and punt.

Hart got a 4-yard return by Howell to the 33: pass to Holbrook (replacing the injured Heirshberg) for 11, run by Howell for 1, pass to Reyes (replacing the injured Holbrook) for 25 on a great catch right down the middle, run by Howell for 0 on what appeared to be a broken play, run by Pettee (flushed) for 5, pass to Reyes for 10 (fumbled by recovered by Ardnt) incomplete, pass

Ardnt for 9, run by Pettee for 2, run by Howell for -2, run by Howell for 1, SACK and -4. The attempted field goal from 26 was ever so slightly wide right at 5:24.

Canyon at the 20: DiLuigi for 5, incomplete, pass (?) for 5, run by DiLuigi for 4, run by Longshore for 3, run for a loss (?) but a penalty for illegal shift declined (?) (the ball ended up marked at the same spot but 4th down), a VERY big punt (over 50 yards).

Hart got no return on the punt and started at the 10 with 2:53 left; run by Howell for -4 on a draw out of the shotgun, pass to Vairo for 17, pass to Howell for 5, pass to Ardnt for 16 pass to Davis for 11, run (reverse) by Davis for -, incomplete (Hart fans wanted a PI on this one), pass to Vairo for 7 down to the Canyon 42, on 4th and 7, Pettee threw toward an open Howell but a Canyon linebacker tipped it about halfway there.

Canyon ball at the 42 with :56 seconds left: run by DiLuigi for 4 (Hart timeout), run by DiLuigi for 4 (Harts last timeout) and 40 seconds left. Hart moved all 11 men right up to the line (still covering receivers), DiLuigi burst through the line and kept on going for a 50-yard TD with 31 seconds left. Canyon 34-25 with :31 left in the game.

Hart at the 20 (no return): incomplete, INTERCEPTION, returned about 50 yards for the TD. Canyon 41-25 with 10 seconds left.

Hart at the 20: run by Howell for 11.

Statistically, Hart had a big edge in the second half running 43 plays for 222 yards to Canyons 19 plays for 162 yards.

Pettee was 15 of 23 for 170 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He also ran 6 times for 17 yards including 2 sacks. His distribution of the ball was very good: 5 completions to Vairo, 6 to Ardnt, 5 to Howell, 5 to the right side WR (2 to Heishberg before he went out, 1 to Holbrook before he went out and 2 to Reyes) and 2 to Davis. Howell ran 12 times for 22 yards and a TD and also had a receiving TD and 53 return yards. Davis ran twice (including the fumble play) for 35.

Longshore was 2 of 4 for 4 yards passing and rushed for 53 yards on 5 carries including a TD. DiLuigi had 89 yards on 10 carries and 1 TD (the last minute TD run).

Comments:

Both teams had some very good moments, a few scary moments and a lot of hard hits. Hart stopped Canyon on the first series and then moved smartly down the field and scored. Then a consistent bugaboo reappeared -- a muffed PAT, this time in the form of a block. That miss ended up creating a problem for Hart throughout the remainder of the game.

After that first score, the Cowboy advantage in the kicking game started to take hold. First, Canyon had a very big edge punting and kept gaining a few yards on the change of possession until they scored. The Cowboys also missed a sure score on a pass that was simply dropped on the goal line.

The teams then exchanged TDs making the score 13-12 Canyon (both teams missing PATs) and then came what I see as the fatal series for Hart. Canyon kicked of Hart got the ball on the 20 with 1:59 remaining and two timeouts. For a pass-oriented team, that is a huge amount of time. Moreover, Hart had been having a lot of success to the outside. Nevertheless, Hart seemed to play this series as if there was virtually no time left. The series went sack, incomplete, incomplete followed by a short 30-yard punt. By Hart's not bleeding the clock at all, Canyon was left with a short field, 1:15 and all 3 timeouts. The Cowboys scored fairly easily. Chock this one up to a Hart tactical error.

The second half started out bizarrely for Hart. With Hart at the Hart 43, Pettee threw a pass to Heirshberg along the right sideline. He took off running and got hammered by a Canyon defender, the ball popped up and was caught in the air by Davis who kept on running down to the Canyon 5. Howell took it down to the 1 on the next play. What's next? Another easy Hart score, right? Hardly. Illegal procedure, sack, delay of game and an incomplete put the ball back out at the 16 and 4th down.

Hart tried a field goal which was apparently blocked. But -- the yellow flags went flying and the Canyon fans started booing. The call was roughing the kicker. Up in my section we were saying "You can't have a roughing the kicker if the ball is blocked, can you?" Apparently so.

I have since looked up the rule which states: "When a player, other than one who blocks a scrimmage kick, runs, into or roughs the kicker or holder, it is a foul." Note that the only player who can run into the kicker or holder is the guy who blocked it. Even if the kick is blocked, if the non-blocker runs into the kicker, it's a penalty. On reflection that makes sense. Otherwise a lot of kickers would get hurt as stationary targets. Apparently, the kick on this play was either not blocked all [it may have been low and into the back of a Hart player] or the hit was by someone other than the person who blocked it. I certainly couldn't see that from where I was.

Once again the teamss exchanged TDs. The difference was once again kicking with Canyon getting a short field on a failed onside kick by Hart (which was a great call but just not quite successful).

Hart's last couple of series were, to say the least, perplexing to me. Hart got down to the Canyon 4 and then tried to run out of their "double tackle" formation. The play, not surprisingly, went for a two-yard loss. Canyon had been stacking up the middle and targeting Howell the whole second half and a good portion of the first half after he burned them with two long runs right up the middle. Hart then tried to pass (it was fairly apparently to all what was up -- indeed when Hart gets backed up a little or feels time is short count on the QB dropping back and throwing downfield [i.e., taking a lot of time] or running a draw). Canyon correctly predicted what Hart would do. The Canyon blitz forced a sack. Then the kicking game bugaboo once again returned (it was Friday the 13th after all) and Hart missed a short field goal.

The game wasn't over though. Hart's defense once again stopped Canyon. The Canyon punter came through big time with a punt down to the Hart 10.

Hart moved the ball again but once again with some perplexing play calls. On the first play in the series, Hart tried a draw (note my comment above -- Hart buried in own territory late in game -- surefire call: a long pass or a draw). There was no question that Canyon was completely keying on Howell and doing everything possible to jam up the middle. A draw from the shotgun was doomed to failure from my point of view. Nevertheless, Hart followed with 4 sharp passing plays to four different receivers and got to the Canyon 45.

Then followed another perplexing call.

Pettee and Hart had taken advantage of Canyon's over-playing/jamming up the middle most of second half but then, inexplicably, chose to run straight into that strength, and not with Howell, the strongest runner but with a slot reverse to Davis which went for a loss -- too clever by half in my book. I had the same problem with the "missed FG" series when Hart tried to run the double tackle from 4 yards out. One or two yards maybe. But not from the four against the Canyon defense. The Cowboys were putting everything into preventing plays up the middle. That's 20-20 hindsight I guess, though even at the time both my son and I were going "oh no!" I think you have to go to the "go to" guy, Howell, but it also has to be a position that works best to his advantage, which, in the second half was not Howell or anyone else running up the middle. It was passing to him!

Overall, Canyon had a big edge punting and a big edge running. The Canyon rushing edge was not surprising. The Cowboys are a run-oriented team and run most plays from formations that favor running. Hart had a very big edge passing. Hart's shotgun is generally not run-friendly.

I'd also give both Canyon lines an edge, a slight edge, but nevertheless an edge.

Defensively, Hart's staff made great adjustments for the second half. DiLuigi, who had 105 yards in the first half had only 39 on 9 carries in the second half until that last breakaway at the very end of the game. Canyon had only 4 yards passing for the entire second half. In many respects, Longshore's 39-yard run was the difference, allowing Canyon to jump out to a 27-18 lead.

Hart appeared to me to have a slight edge in another area. Last season, Canyon caught a couple of really big breaks. In the first Hart-Canyon game, the Hart QB ran for a big gain only to have it called back because the refs had called the RB down even though he never had the ball (it was indeed a great fake by the QB). Then there was a wholly unforced fumble when Hart had the game in the bag.

Things turned Hart's way in this game: the fumble that Davis caught was both alertness and skill on his part but mixed with a lot of luck. And that whole blocked field goal/roughing thing was very strange and very fortunate for Hart.

I hope the teams meet again. The way things look now, that could be a possibility but will require some exceptional play by Hart with a distinct possibility of meeting one of the other three teams to whom Hart has lost along the way. This group has the talent. If they meet again, think Little Bighorn (gotta be positive!).