Hart played Darrel Scott tonight. Scott won.

The Moorpark offensive line was absolutely dominate and Scott was the most impressive pure running back that I've seen since 2002.

Last week against St. Bonaventure, Hart blew defensive assignments all over the place and often didn't lay a hand on the St. B back as he came flying by. Tonight, it wasn't blown assignments. It was the defensive line getting blown off the line and Scott trampling everyone in sight. Hart just couldn't tackle the guy. It was one of the poorer jobs of tackling I can ever recall seeing in a Hart game, lots of grabbing and grasping and lots of hits up high around the pads. Scott brushed that stuff like it was a mosquito.

Offensively, Hart was kept absolutely buried in the first half and pretty dismal. In the second half the Indians started to look very decent, even formidable for awhile but it was far too little too late.

Summary:

Hart: Ardnt got about 9 yards on the return and Hart started at the 10: pass to Davis for 8, penalty for illegal procedure, incomplete, SACK for -1 and punt.

Moorpark: the Hart punt was badly shanked and netted a whopping 16 yards out to the Hart 28: pass for 6, QB fumble but recovered for -1, run by Scott over right tackle for 10, run by Scott over right tackle for 13 and the TD. Moorpark 7-0 at 8:25.

Hart at the 20: run by Howell for 2, pass to Ardnt for 0, run by Howell for 1, incomplete (knock down), pass to Howell on a short screen with a spectacular run after the catch for 59 yards down to the 9-yard line; run by Howell for -1 (slip), run by Howell on a pitch for 1 (slipped again), pass interference (moved the ball to the 4 yard line and first down), run by Howell for 1, run by Howell for 1, fumbled snap for -1 and then 21-yard field goal by Mendenhall. 7-3 at 2:47 in the first quarter.

Moorpark got a 16-yard return to the 26: run by Scott over right tackle for 11, pass for 10, run by Scott over left tackle for -1 (about the only time he was stopped the whole night), penalty illegal procedure, incomplete, incomplete (almost intercepted) and punt.

Hart at the 12: pitch left to Howell for -2 [END OF QUARTER], pass to Vairo for 12, run by Reyes on a slot counter for 0, incomplete, incomplete, punt.

Moorpark at the 49: run by Scott up the middle for 14, run by Scott over the left side for 5, run by Scott over the right tackle for 11, run by Scott over the right tackle for 9, run by Scott up the middle for 4, run (by the other back) for 5, run by Scott over left tackle for 3 and the TD. Moorpark 14-3 at 7:20 in the second quarter.

Hart got a 15-yard return by Howell: incomplete (procedure penalty declined), penalty holding, incomplete and INTERCEPTION.

Moorpark at the Hart 36: run by Scott for 4, run by Scott for 12, pass for 5 and run by the other back for 15 and the TD. Moorpark 21-3 at 5:15.

Hart got 8 yards on the return by Ardnt (there were 2 kickoffs, offside by MP on the first one): incomplete, run by Howell for 3, incomplete and punt.

Moorpark at the 49: run by Scott for 5, run by Scott for 4, run by Scott for 2, incomplete (almost intercepted), incomplete (drop) and on fourth down, a bad snap to -- who else, Scott -- the punter. He dodged a half dozen guys and got 5 more yards but not the first down.

Hart at the 32: INTERCEPTION.

Moorpark at the Hart 47: incomplete, run by the QB for 10 (flushed), run by QB (sneak), run by Scott for 7, incomplete, penalty delay, incomplete, run by Scott for -1 and half time.

The first quarter was not too bad for Hart but the poor field position really kept Hart in a hole. The second quarter was disastrous. Pettee finished the half 4 for 14, 88 yards and 2 interceptions. Howell had 6 yards on 8 carries, Pettee had -1 on a sack and Reyes 0 yards on 1 carry.

Moorpark's QB was 3 of 10 for 21 yards and had 11 yards on 3 carries. The other back had 20 yards on 2 carries. Then there was Scott: 130 yards on 19 carries (15 carries in the second quarter).

Second half

Moorpark got a 21-yard return by Smith and started at the 29: run by Scott for 3, pass for 16, run by Scott for 8 (Dakota Luster had firm hold on Scott's shirt tail and Scott just dragged, at what looked like full speed for about 5 yards), incomplete, pass to Scott for 17, run by Scott for 6, run by Scott for 6, penalty holding [14 yard run by Scott and then moved back 10 for a loss of 4], run by the other back for 14, run by the other back for 1, run by Scott for 4 and the TD. Moorpark 28-3 at 7:32 of the third.

Hart got a 9 yard return by Howell and started at the 21: run by Howell on a pitch for 3, swing pass to Howell for -4, penalty pass interference, run by Howell for 0, pitch to Howell around the right, throw back to Pettee and then long throw down field and a great catch by Vairo for 48 yards; penalty holding for -11, pass downfield to Howell for 27 and the TD. Moorpark 28-10 at 4:09.

Hart tried an onside kick which did not work; Moorpark at the 40: run by Scott for 12, run by Scott by 7 and then the killer play of the night – a throw out to the left wideout (the ball may have even gone off the head of a Hart player), 2 guys had a shot at him at the line of scrimmage, 2 more collided and took themselves out of the play and about 5 more had a shot as the receiver went down the middle of the field for a 41-yard TD, all on the run after the catch. Moorpark 35-10 at 2:44.

On the ensuing kickoff you could see even before Howell caught it that he was really fired up. He returned it 61 yards up the sideline and would have gone for the score but for a diving, grab-the-heel tackle. Hart at the ball at the MP 38: pass to Arndt for 38 and the TD. Moorpark 35-17 at 2:25.

Following an offsides by each team and then an onside kick recovered by Moorpark, Moorpark at the 36: run by Scott for 6, run by Scott for 9, run by Scott for 8, run by Scott for 5, run by Scott for 18 [END OF QUARTER], run by Scott for 5, run by Scott for 3, run by Scott for 10 and the TD. Moorpark 42-17 at 10:28 of the fourth.

Hart at the 35: incomplete, incomplete, pass to Vairo for 7, incomplete on 4th down.

Moorpark: run by Scott for 2, run for 0 (Scott left the game), run for 2 and punt.

Hart at the 40 (and lots of MP second-stringers in): pass to Howell for 35, run by Howell for 5, incomplete, incomplete and incomplete on 4th down.

Moorpark at the 40: run for 2 run for 2, run for 4 and punt.

Hart at the 8: incomplete, pass to Howell for 13, run by Pettee on a fumbled snap for 0, SACK, penalty pass interference, incomplete and pass to Howell for 69 and the TD. Moorpark 42-24 at 2:17.

MP ran out the clock on 3 running plays for another 11 yards.

In the second half, Pettee was 8 of 16 for 237 yards and 3 TDs. He finished the night at 12 of 30, 325 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. He had -1 yards on 4 carries including a sack. Howell had a really big night as a receiver with 6 receptions and 199 yards (that's 33 yards a catch!). What was particularly impressive is that only one of the catches was downfield, all the others were right around the line of scrimmage; he made the yards after the catch. He also had 85 yards on returns. Rushing was a different matter with only 13 yards on 11 carries.

The Moorpark QB finished the night 5 of 13, 78 yards and 1 TD. Scott had 259 yards on 36 carries and 4 touchdowns.

COMMENTS: the Hart tackling was abysmal, atrocious, awful etc., etc. etc. The tacklers in the Hart system are the linebackers. The defensive line slants and basically is supposed to jam things up giving the backers an opportunity to ferret out the play and smack somebody. The Moorpark offensive line, particularly both tackles, pushed the Hart defensive line back into the linebackers on almost every play. To make matters worse, there was a lot of high, arm tackling and Scott just shrugged it off.

Okay, now that we've cured the blown assignment problem of game 1, we now have to tackle people. I guess that's the project this week.

On offense, the first quarter wasn't too bad but the second was abysmal, atrocious, awful etc., etc. etc., with no running game whatsoever and not too much of a passing game either.

Then I had sort of an epiphany in the second half. Message to Davis Delmatoff (the offensive co-ordinator): pull out the films and playbook from 1992 when you were the QB. Back then Hart ran a spread offense but rarely made too much of a pretense at running. The "running" game consisted of swings, screens, shovels and miscellaneous very short passes and long after the catch runs to and by Deriek Charles, an all-CIF running back. Based on the performance tonight I could see Hart using Howell the same way. Throw Luster into the mix (he was at tight end a lot) and the slots on some short crossing routes across the middle and that blitzing stuff may become really difficult for a defense.

A couple of other thoughts: Two years ago, the Hart QB set a record for interceptions. As a result, last year, the passing game was very cautious with lots of out-type routes and virtually nothing in the middle of the field. The result: only 5 INTs for the season by Lyon (and 1 by Pettee) but 1000 less yards. Pettee is capable of throwing down the middle and the short, dinky stuff tends to really take the steam out of the blitz. I'd like to see Luster get the ball (at fullback and tight end, he has yet to see it). On the JV last year, he impressed as a real player.

Last year Pettee looked very slow. He's quicker. How about some roll out stuff which, once again, tends to befuddle the blitz?

Seems like most everything goes long and outside (or tonight to Howell). How about more to the slots in the middle of the field? They're pretty sure-handed (only one outright drop).

How about a few more opportunities for some hard-charging run blocking? All that stuff in the shotgun gets the OL into a fairly passive mood (though they did do a pretty good job protecting). A few chances to get ornery and real smack somebody is good for the OL's soul.

Next week: the trek to Amat.