Hart 34 Loyola 27

Hart starting quarterback, Tyler Lyon, suffered a concussion last week and sat out this game as did starting MLB Larrimore who continues to have a nerve problem with a lower leg.

Hart took the opening kickoff, got an 11-yard return from James Wheeler and started at the 23. The first play from scrimmage was, as one of the ESPN announcers often says, some "trickeration" (known in the rest of the English-speaking world as "trickery"): Pettee started out under center and following a double hand off, threw a long cross-field pass to Yudin for 24 yards. Nice start but things slowed down after that: 4-yard run by Howell, pass to Casselberry for 2, an incomplete (was there a PI on Yudin?) and then a shanked punt with no return.

Loyola started at the Cub 35: pass for 11, illegal procedure penalty (penalties dogged Loyola all night), a run by Peppars, another run, largely nullified by a hold which moved the ball back 8 yards from the previous LOS, a pass for 5, then a long pass down the field which was intercepted by Yudin who returned it about 40 yards but then was stripped of the ball for a fumble. In sum, Loyola got the ball back at it's own 23 but with a first down: QB run (flushed) for 2, pass for -1, incomplete and a punt which took a very bad bounce for Loyola or a great bounce for Hart.

Hart started at the Loyola 41 and immediately got nailed for an illegal procedure (Note to receivers: put the gloves on quicker; I have no doubt the play called was a run since Yudin was putting gloves on after the QB had started his snap count); pass to Casselberry for 3, pass to Wheeler for 11, run by Howell for 2, run by Pettee for no gain (flushed) then an interception on a pass deep down the center (I watched the play on TV after I got home and the TV confirmed my thoughts from the game; should have been called a PI or hold on the guy on Yudin).

Loyola started at the 43: run by Peppars for 30, run by Peppars for 2, then a 25-yard pass to Lawrence for a touchdown. Loyola 7-0 at 2:07 in the first quarter.

Hart got a 25-yard return by Wheeler and started at the 31: run by Howell for 7, incomplete, pass to Casselberry for 7, run on pitch to Howell for 7, incomplete; pass to Yudin for 21 [END OF QUARTER], incomplete, penalty for holding (on a very nice screen), pass to Yudin for 12, run by Pettee for 4 (sneak) run by Pettee for 1 then pass to Casselberry for 13 and a touchdown.

Casselberry got leveled after he was well into the end zone. Was this another "futbol" moment where the defender mistook one of those stupid yellow soccer lines for the goal line? 7-7 at 10:03 of the second quarter.

Weinstein, the Hart kicker, put it into the end zone and Loyola started at the 20: run by Peppars for 4, run by Lawrence for 2, pass to Lawrence for 5, run by Peppars for 5, run on a reverse by Lawrence for 21, run by Peppars for 1, run by Peppars for -2, pass for 1 and punt.

Hart got a short punt return by Wheeler and started at the 14: incomplete, pass to Casselberry for 2, penalty - pass interference, run by Howell for 0, pass to Embree for 3, pass to Wheeler for 11, pass to Embree for 8, pass to Wheeler for 0, pass to Yudin for 16 (the DB tried to get the pick and got burned instead), pass to Casselberry for 5, SACK for -7(the only one of the night and a "coverage" sack to boot), pass to Yudin for 35 yards and the touchdown. Hart 14-7 at :58 in the second quarter.

Loyola started at the 20 again, ran the ball for five yards, twice by Peppars before the half ended.

Pettee started out a little weak but finished splendidly, going 8 for 9 in the last series including 8 straight completions. He finished the half at 16 of 22, 176 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Howell had 20 yards on 5 carries and Pettee had -2 on three carries.

Loyola's QB was 6 for 8, 44 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Loyola rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries.

Loyola got a bit of a break to start the second half when the kickoff went out of bounds and started at the 35: run by Peppars for 6, pass for 2, run by Peppars for 12, run by the QB on a naked bootleg for 9 then an INT on a pass tipped by Wheeler and intercepted by Reyes.

Hart started at the 12. Loyola jumped offsides which moved the ball up 5. On a pitch, Howell lost 4 and then Hart got hit for a delay, incomplete, pass to Wheeler for 4 and punt.

The Hart coverage was poor and Lawrence took advantage of it and returned the ball to the 17 (a net 5 on the punt ): run by Peppars for 4, run by Peppars for 7, run by Peppars for -4, pass to Joseph for 10. 14-14 at 6:21 in the third.

Hart got another very nice return by Wheeler out to the 46. Run by Howell for 1 (apparently he tweaked an ankle and went out of the game at this point); incomplete to Yudin (pretty clearly pass interference from my point of view but not the refs'); pass to Yudin for 20 on a drag across the middle; pass interference (close call = makeup call?); run for 11 by Pettee on a great fake -- everyone was after Casselberry; run by Casselberry for 8 and the touchdown. Hart 21-14 at 4:10 in the third quarter.

Loyola once again started on the 20: run for 10 (Peppars out?), run for 4 (?), incomplete, pass for 1 and punt with another very good Hart bounce.

Hart started at the Hart 48: pass to Wheeler for 1, pass to Howell for 1, incomplete and punt. This could have been a game-changing play. The snap was low, the punter managed to get to it quickly and started to pick it up but then bobbled it away. He chased after it and then just kicked it off the ground (another futbol moment?). It got back close to the line of scrimmage.

Loyola took over on the Hart 45. First play: the first and I think only Loyola play from the shotgun and an empty backfield. The snap went over the QB's head. He ran it down at the Loyola 37 for a 18-yard loss [for those who keep statistics, this counts as a "team", rush not chargeable to the QB's rushing stats per the NCAA statistics manual]. That ended the third quarter. On the next play, the QB threw an incomplete and was drilled. Third down was a draw for -1 by Peppars, then a punt.

Hart started at the Hart 35: pass to Embree for 11, run by Casselberry for 40. A facemask penalty on the next play on the QB (which would have been a sack) put the ball on the 7: run by Casselberry for 2, run by Casselberry on a pitch for 5 and the touchdown. Hart 28-14 at 9:45.

Loyola once again started on the 20 and it was at this point Hart went into a prevent defense, not using the 3-man rush as we saw in the Birmingham game and earlier in this game but, rather, lining up in a 3-man front but then dropping the nose guard back into coverage. It didn't work too well.

Loyola: penalty for illegal procedure; QB run (flush) for 10, run by Peppars for 2, pass for 15, run by Peppars for -2, pass for 23, pass for 5, pass for 9, run (Peppars?) for 2, pass for 6, run (by Peppars?) for 0 and then pass for 3 and the TD on fourth down. The PAT was blocked and it was 28-20 Hart at 5:05.

Hart put out the "hands" team but Loyola, with 5 minutes and 2 timeouts remaining, kicked away. Howell got a 20-yard return to the 21.

Hart: Penalty for pass interference moved the ball out to the 36 (this is the call that got the Loyola folks in a lather as it was very close and occurred on their side of the field and a very questionable throw by the Hart QB into double coverage); incomplete, run by Howell for 39, run by Casselberry for 13, run by Howell for 6, penalty for holding, run by Pettee for -2 (not a sack), pass to Casselberry for 20. The PAT missed and it was Hart 34-20 with 2:30 to play.

Loyola started again from the 20 and Hart once again went into the prevent defense: offsetting penalties (Hart, hold; Loyola, illegal receiver) and things started anew at the 20: pass for 20, pass for 14, incomplete, QB run (flush) for 16 and pass long down the right sideline for 30 yards and a touchdown. Hart 34-27 with 1:30 to go.

Everyone in the place knew what would happen on the kickoff but somehow, the Hart "hands" team was caught completely off guard. On all the previous kickoffs, Loyola had faked an onsides kick. Somehow the Hart guys seemed to think this would be a fake instead of the real thing! Not surprisingly, Loyola recovered the onside kick at the Hart 48.

Loyola: incomplete, pass for 20, incomplete and then, on a "wraparound" draw, Loyola fumbled and Otton recovered for Hart. Two knees later it was over.

Comments: The fourth quarter was really a reversal of Hart strengths. Up to that point, the defense has been very stout. Loyola's QB, while throwing for a very high percentage got very little yardage in the first three quarters. Through the first three quarters (including the series that ended a few seconds into the fourth quarter), he was 9 of 14 for only 59 yards [6.6 yards a catch], 2 TDs and 2 INTs, not exactly overwhelming numbers.

Both of Loyola's scores in the first 3 quarters came on a short or relatively short field, one following an INT and the other a long punt return.

In the fourth quarter, the Loyola QB was 10 of 13, 153 yards [15.3 yards a catch] and 2 TDs. This huge upsurge coincided exactly with the Hart change to a "prevent" defense. Most all the damage was done down the middle of the field. The Loyola QB and receivers got almost 3 times as much yardage in those 9 minutes as they got in the previous 37. The QB finished at 19 of 27 for 212 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs, a very good night.

Loyola's running game (by the running backs) in the second half was not too effective: 38 yards on 12 carries. The QB had 35 yards on 3 carries, each time after he was flushed. The 18-yard loss on the bad snap moderated the rushing yards even further.

While the Hart defense went into a non-preventative prevent defense, the offense, contrary to its pattern in earlier games, most notably Moorpark, went right after Loyola in the fourth quarter -- no "prevent offense" for Hart tonight. The Hart offensive line and running backs simply took over the game. In the fourth quarter, Hart rushed the ball 7 times for 103 yards and a TD, a 14-yard average. Loyola usually has the toughest line play that Hart faces. In this case, Hart dominated. Hart passing was terrific in the first half. The second half stats were more modest. Pettee was 6-10 for 57 yards and a TD, though with the great running game Hart had going, he didn't need to pass much.

Overall, Hart had 121 yards rushing on 11 carries in the second half.

I have been very critical of the shotgun, as run by Hart, as being a very ineffective running formation. But I have always thrown in a qualifier: it doesn't work against teams with a quick line and particularly, a team with quick linebackers. First, Hart's linemen, really for the first time this year, appeared to really be going after people. Normally, the blocking schemes are fairly passive, fending people off from the QB as opposed to attacking. More of the plays tonight had run blocking in mind. Second, the O-line appeared, as a group, bigger and faster than the Loyola guys. I don't recall that being the case ever in the past. And the Loyola linebackers, while very good, were not hyper-quick like the St. Bonaventure bunch (which had trouble with Hart until Hart got down to the 4th string running back). By the fourth quarter, it looked like the Hart guys had simply worn down the Loyola linemen and Casselberry and Howell went wild. My point: with these factors in Hart's favor [run-based, aggressive blocking schemes, a speed advantage on the line and slowish linebackers], running from the shotgun can work. However, there are other teams that do have sufficient quickness in the linemen and backers to neutralize the things that went well on Friday -- but not if the lineman remain this aggressive. Hart has to remember to make that distinction.

The kicking game has been a strong point the prior two weeks but things were a little out of kilter against Loyola (but Loyola seems to do that to a lot of teams'kicking games).

Another oddity here: Hart got three turnovers (two INTs and a fumble) but did not score on any of them (though there was no attempt to do so on the last fumble). On Hart's four big errors (fumble [after an int by Yudin], INT, botched punt and botched return, Loyola was able to capitalize twice.

Through five games, Hart has looked tremendous -- at times -- in all phases of the game.

The defense was stifling against Moorpark and Westlake, and very very solid in all but a couple of plays against Birmingham. Loyola did very little through the first three quarters except when the Cubs had a short field. Even in the loss against Birmingham, the defense from scrimmage did well forcing five punts. It was the short field from turnovers and a long return that turned things against Hart with St. Bonnie and which gave Loyola half it's points. That "prevent" defense needs some work.

Special teams on the return side have generally been very good through five games. However, I'll wager there will be some serious work on preventing the onside kick this week.

The special teams on the kicking side have been erratic. Weinstein has put most of his kicks in the end zone but his teammates have given up long returns that have been (St. Bonnie) or could have been (Loyola) fatal.

On offense, Hart has been able to drive the ball, fairly consistently, the length of the field against every opponent, most noticeably against both St. B and Loyola. The runs after catch and the precision in the routes are very noticeably improved factors in the last three games. Inconsistency and untimely penalties have been problems.

Pettee, as a backup has done very well. His receivers and line are a very big part of that success. I loved the fourth quarter offensive play-calling this game: playing to win, not playing to not lose. There still is a fair amount of predictability in the play-calling but the execution was at a higher level and well run plays, especially when the talent is equal or superior, will beat just about anything the defense can do.

League next week.

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