BAD OMEN:

For reasons unknown, about a third of the lights at College of the Canyons were out. Then just about game time, a skunk cut loose in the vicinity of the stadium. So when the game began, it was dark and smelled bad. Sort of describes the whole evening for Hart and the Indians' fans.

My first thought was this game was about as ugly as it could get: the largest margin of defeat since at least 1985 ; the first shutout in 21 years, a total of 272 games. (The last time was October 4, 1985, when Hart and Saugus played to a 0-0 tie.); the largest margin of loss in the Herrington era.

However, things are not nearly as dark and ugly as one might suppose.

First, St. Bonnie has a boatload of fine athletes. If you lined up all the backs and receivers from both teams on the end line and had them sprint for 40 yards, Hart would have no more than one kid, Delano Howell, in the top 10 and maybe no others in the top 20. Collectively, St. Bonnie is much faster than Hart. But that has been the case in every match up between the two teams.

I commented on Thursday before the game that superior athletes tend to dominate early in the season when teams are more mistake-prone and any mistake can be fatal. Bonnie had the athletes and Hart made the mistakes, lots and lots of them.

So why do I remain sanguine about Hart? First, while Hart will face a lot of good teams over the next nine games, no opponent for the remainder of the regular season or thereafter -- unless Hart faces St. Bonnie again in the playoffs -- will have nearly as much overall speed. ("Overall" is the operative word here, there are some individuals who are faster than anyone on St. Bonnie; Vereen at Valencia comes to mind).

Second, about 80% of the problems on defense were mental mistakes. Those are correctable. The other big problem -- too many kids playing both ways including most of the linemen -- is a much tougher issue. You could see the Hart kids wearing down, losing a step here and there as the game progressed. When there are kids like St. B's Michael Lee and Patrick Hall in the backfield, that's all it takes.

Third, that St. Bonnie scored 34 points (28 on offense) was not shocking. The Seraphs have averaged 37 points in the three previous wins over Hart.

Fourth, offensively -- despite the shutout -- Delano Howell was the biggest threat on the field with 129 yards rushing, 83 receiving and 92 on kickoff returns. The Seraph linebackers and defensive backs -- with all that speed -- usually managed to corral him (and it took a bunch of them to do it) only after he went sailing past the line of scrimmage. Against a group with any less team speed, a lot of those 6-7 yard runs would have been game-breakers.
As far as the passing game, I just hope that Pettee and the receivers show up with the same playbook next week. It looked like the receivers had a different version that Pettee. There were lots of missed connections with the receiver breaking left and the ball going right, not turning around, the ball slightly beyond the receivers' reach, etc. I noted in a post yesterday that the Hart receivers have pretty good hands but are not -- as a group -- particularly fast. The speedy Seraphs were able to match anything a Hart receiver did, step for step.

Finally, the lack of a scrimmage game really showed. As I noted above, playing a really athletic team early in the season is a problem for Hart. Playing the first game of the season without even a scrimmage showed just how much preparation it takes to get ready for a team like St. Bonnie. I'd think that the best way to handle this is to chalk it up as a practice game and move on.

So here's the summary:

St. B got a 15-yard return on the kickoff and started at the 25: incomplete, run by Lee for 10, run on a reverse for 24 (mental mistake: outside guys on the Hart right got sucked in and the ball carrier simply ran around them to the outside and down the sideline), run by Hall for 6, run by Lee for -1 to the Hart 36 and then FUMBLE (whew!)

Hart at the 35: Howell run for 11 plus a penalty for an additional 15 yards; run by Howell for 1; then pass to Vairo for 14 but a FUMBLE at the end of the play recovered by Bonnie.

St. B at the 31: incomplete (tipped), penalty for delay, incomplete, pass to Diaz for 13 and punt.

Hart: first really big mental mistake -- the punt was fairly high and not too long, the Seraphs were there when it came down. The returner should have either cleared out or signaled a fair catch. He did neither and got nailed as he touched the ball. FUMBLE.

SB takes over at the Hart 21: run by Lee for 4, run by Lee for 1, pass to Diaz for 4, long lateral to the left to Lee and FUMBLE.

After about 6 minutes of play, there had been 4 fumbles, 2 by each team. It wasn&'t pretty.

Hart at the 11: run by Howell for no gain, incomplete, pass to Arndt for 13, pass to Davis for 6, run by Howell for -5 (the first play out of the shotgun?), sack for -6 and punt (Howell is the punter).

St. B at the Hart 46: Lee down the right sideline (Hart kids taking lots of bad angles and Lee simply zipping by them) for 44 yards; run by Lee for -1, run for 2 but a holding penalty backed it out to the 11, pass to Erby for 11 and the TD. St. Bonnie 7-0 at 2:14 left in the first quarter.

Hart got a decent return but a penalty for a block in the back forced Hart to start at 9: incomplete, off sides penalty, run by Howell for 4, incomplete and punt.

St B got a decent return but a penalty for a block in the back moved the ball back to the Hart 45: Incomplete, run by Lee for -3 and then an INTERCEPTION by Ardnt with a short return.

Hart at the 44: incomplete [end of quarter], run by Howell for 0, SACK for -6 and punt.

SB at the 36: run by Lee for 3, run by Lee for 7, incomplete, incomplete, incomplete and punt.

Hart: the first FUTBOL moment of the season. The returner was backed up close to the goal line and rightly decided to let the ball drop, apparently thinking it was already in the end zone. The COC field has both football and futbol lines. I'm just guessing, but I suspect the returner thought the line on which he was standing as the ball came down was the goal line but it was a yellow futbol line (a part of the futbol goalie area at about the football 3-yard line). He should have blocked the St. B player so that the ball would have gone into the end zone. He didn't and it was downed at the 2.

Hart: run by Pettee (flushed) for 2, holding penalty declined; pass to Howell for 25(great presence by Pettee to escape the rush and spot Howell down the right sideline); run by Howell for 2, incomplete, incomplete and punt.

Next big mental mistake by Hart: the punt was decent and the Hart guys got down the field and were right in the returner's face. By all rights he should have called a fair catch. It seems like the Hart kids collectively assumed he would. He didn't and took it 55 yards to the end zone. SB 14-0 at 6:58 in the second quarter.

Hart got about a 35-yard return by Howell and started at the 38: pass to Howell for 12, run by Howell for 10, incomplete, pass (screen) to Howell for 12, run (pitch) by Howell for 3, run by Pettee on a keeper for 5, run by Howell for 5 down to the 15, pass to Heirshberg for -4, incomplete, and then another disaster -- INTERCEPTION - on a bit of an overthrow in the end zone. It was returned to the 22.

SB: pass for 0, run by Lee for 4, incomplete and punt.

Hart got no return and started at the 35: incomplete and then when Pettee got flushed -- FUMBLE.

SB took over at the Hart 31 with 1:16 left: run by Lee for 7, penalty for illegal procedure, run by Lee for 1, run for 7 and then on fourth down, run by Lee for 8 and the first down with :23 seconds left. Then the backbreaker of the night: the QB lofted one to the right corner of the end zone for a 13-yard TD. SB 21-0 with :09 left in the half.

Hart got the ball at the 40 following a squib kick: incomplete and 15 yard run by Howell to end the half.

Despite the score, the two teams actually looked fairly evenly matched and both fairly sloppy. The big difference was the 4 Hart turnovers vs. 2 for SB and the SB punt return for the TD.

Pettee was 7 of 18 for 78 yards and had 1 INT. Howell had 54 yards on 11 carries (Hart had 37 net yards rushing because of 2 sacks).

SB's QB was 5 of 15 for 41 yards, 2 TDs and an INT. SB rushers had 121 yards on 17 carries.

Hart took the second half kickoff and started at the 20: pass to Heirshberg for 9, run by Pettee for 4, run by Howell for 20, incomplete, run by Howell for 11 down to the SB 36. Then came the only call of the night that I was a little ticked about. Howell took the handoff and got about the 34 when an army of SB defenders dragged him back about three yards and then stripped the ball. Doesn't the "forward progress stopped" rule apply? In any event it was a ruled a FUMBLE.

SB at the 39: run by Hall for 15, run by Hall for 2, run by Lee for 1, run by Lee for 8, run by Hall for 7, incomplete (this should have been a TD, the SB receiver was wide open right at the goal line and dropped it), penalty for illegal procedure, pass for 6 and then on fourth down, a 27-yard run by Lee for the TD. Hart really jammed the line and once Lee got by it, he was gone! There was a penalty for excessive celebration and the long PAT missed. SB 27-0 at 6:43 in the third quarter.

Hart got about 18 yards on the return by Howell and started at the 29: pass to Heirshberg for seven, pass to Davis for seven, incomplete, incomplete, incomplete, punt.

SB: After a 2-yard return, SB started the 27, run for, run for 6, run by Lee for 9, run for 4, penalty (one of the more bizarre plays of the night: the QB dropped to pass, it was blocked way up into the air, the QB caught it and passed it again and completed it(formerly a legal play but now an illegal double pass apparently), run for 2 and punt.

Hart got 7 on the return and started at the 23: run by the QB (flush and fumble but recovered by Hart), penalty for defensive holding (Marked off as 5 yards. Is that right?), penalty for illegal procedure, incomplete, incomplete and punt.

SB: penalty for illegal substitution, run for 1, pass for 1 [end of quarter], pass for 2 and punt.

Hart: run by Howell for 22, incomplete (zipped right by the receiver's ear; he didn't even turn and look) run by Howell for 11, incomplete (but a penalty signaled as unsportsmanlike conduct but marked off as 5yards; am I missing something here?), pass to Howell for 15, run by Pettee on a keeper for 17, run by Howell for 6 down to the 15 yard line, incomplete, run by Howell for -1 and incomplete on 4th down.

SB at the 16: run for 6 then another killer play, Hall took the ball right and ran clear to the sideline and had nothing. He reversed his field and ran clear to the far side line, turned the corner and went 78 yards for the TD. SB 34-0 at 6:54.

Hart got about 45 yards on the return by Howell and started at the 47. Pettee had taken a lot of hits and it was clear it was time for some subs. Holbrook came in at QB. On the first play, Howell ran for 12. On the second play, Holbrook threw an INTERCEPTION.

At this point, I got a couple of inquiries from some of the writers about the last time that Hart was shut out and was unable to keep notes for the rest of the game so there you have it. By the way the Daily News got it right: Hart was last shut out in 1985 in the fourth game of the season against Saugus, 0-0. Hart started out 0-3-1 that season but recovered and went to the championship game.

Final stats: I had Howell at 129 yards on 19 carries, 5 receptions and 83 yards and about 90 return yards. Pettee was 11 for 31 and 116 yards and 1 interception.

SB: Macarena (the QB) finished at 8 of 20 and 57 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Hall had 11 carries for 132 yards and Lee had 131 yards on 31 carries.

Additional commentary: Mental mistakes on defense were devastating but are very curable. If on just three or four plays, kids had followed through with their assignments, a lot of those SB points probably would not have been there.

The only issue with Howell is figuring out how to maximize his contribution without wearing him out or giving other teams too much of an opportunity to concentrate on him. He's the real deal!

The receiver corps and Pettee were not in sync the whole night. We know from Pettee's performance last year that he's capable of hitting a high percentage and getting the ball to the right guy. The receivers are all pretty much rookies. The SB DBs provided a very tough initiation. My guess is that there will be a marked improvement in the receivers over the next couple of weeks. I expect the completion percentage to soar though the yardage numbers will not go up proportionately until about league time.

I heard saw a lot commentary about the offensive line. Certainly they could have done better but they made holes for Howell all night long. How many backs have gotten those kinds of numbers against SB in the last several years? The pass blocking has a way to go. Pettee was fairly well protected in the first half but took a lot of hits as the game progressed. As the SB guys learned that the DBs could keep the Hart receivers in check, more and more defenders blitzed. Their speed coupled with a tiring Hart line made things tougher as the game progressed.

Hart's DBs generally did fairly well but had a couple of big faux pas, one was a TD and one that should have been but for an SB drop.

The defensive line and outside linebackers and/or DBs had some containment problems. I don't know who has what role in what situation but clearly, someone lost track of their responsibility in that regard on more than one occasion.

The kickoffs and returns were a pleasant surprise. The punting game -- both receiving and punt coverage was pretty darn iffy.

At least eight kids spent time on both sides of the ball including most of the linemen. That's a lot to ask of anybody on the first game of the year when it's still cooking on that turf and against a team like St. Bonnie.

The impact of the new schools was noticed by most of the fans. Hart had less than 40 players suited up for the game. Last year there were almost 60 at this time. Of course, two years ago Hart had around 3200 students. Now there are about 2500+. (That number may drop even more next year but should then start back up again). In the abstract, Hart has more than enough talent on both sides of the ball to win. The problem is that there are too many of the kids on both sides (I know I'm mistaken but it seemed like when there was a turnover, only Pettee came off the field and everyone else remained).

If the Hart staff can figure out a way to keep some those guys a little more rested, Hart will do just fine.

Moorpark next week.