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I have to admit that this Hart crew provides more anxiety provoking moments than any Hart team I can remember. These guys
have been behind in 10 of 12 games and come back to take the lead in every one of them. It seems like they play to the level
of the competition.
So here's the play by play.
Hart won the toss and deferred. The JV kickoff guy, who had elected to start basketball and not move up to varsity thinking
he would not be needed, was back in a football uniform. His first kickoff was deep but not quite to the goal. Los Osos returned
it 26 yards and started at the 26: run by Chase for 1, run by Hogan for 3, pass to Chase for 10, run by Chase for 14, run
by Hogan for 6, run by Chase for -1 (at the Hart 41), incomplete and punt.
Hart got no return on the punt and started at the 4: incomplete (low), pass to Wheeler for 0 yards, and on 3d and 10,
a 49-yard run by Howell up the left side to the Los Osos 47, run by Casselberry for 7, incomplete (overthrow), run by Howell
for -1. On fourth and four, Hart clearly had set up a fake punt. The snap was supposed to go to the short man, Howell. The
snap was over his head but short of the punter. The punter ran up to get it but, with a cast on his right hand, bobbled it
and could not get a punt off. Los Osos took over at the Hart 42.
Los Osos: run by Chase for 17, run by Chase for -1, penalty for illegal procedure, incomplete on a screen wholly spotted
by the Hart defense, run by Anderson (the QB) for 3 on a draw and run by Garcia on a reverse for 9 but short of the first
down so Hart took over on the 19.
Hart: pass to Wheeler for 7, pass to Wheeler for 3, incomplete (long to Wheeler), run by Howell for 16, incomplete on
a long overthrow to a painfully wide open Embree; run by Howell for 12, run by Lyon for 14, pass to Casselberry for 16, pass
to Wheeler for 1 [END OF QUARTER], incomplete (long again) and then pass to Casselberry for a 12-yard TD. The PAT was good
and Hart was up 7-0 at 11:51 in the second quarter.
The Hart kickoff was fairly short and the Los Osos returner got about 20 yards out to the 33-yard line: run by Anderson
for1, pass to Hogan for 7, run by Hogan for 50 (fortunately for Hart, Wheeler ran him down from behind and the far side of
the field), run by Hogan for 2 and then a 7-yard run by Anderson for the TD. The PAT missed. Hart 7-6 at 9:40.
The kickoff was into the endzone and Hart got no return: incomplete, run by Lyon for -1 (this looked to be a shovel pass
but there was a Los Osos guy between Lyon and Howell, so Lyon, quite rightly, took off running around the left end), incomplete
(once again long) and punt.
Los Osos got a very short return and started at the Los Osos 43: incomplete (tipped at the line of scrimmage), run by
Chase for 12, run by Hogan for 6, run by Chase for 3, QB sneak for 1. On first down at the Hart 35, Los Osos ran a halfback
option pass to the right. Hogan's pass was picked off by Ardnt.
Hart started at the Hart 13: run by Casselberry for 3, incomplete, SACK for -11 by No. 60 and punt from the Hart 5-yard
line. This was Burton's best punt of the year. Not only was it a very nice punt but he got a great roll as well. It stopped
at the Los Osos 27.
Los Osos: run by Hogan for 7, run (by Hogan?) for 7, incomplete, pass to Hogan for 14 (he got leveled on this play and
had to go out for awhile); run by Chase for 4, pass to 42 (normally a linebacker?) for 9, then a pass interference penalty
on Hart which moved the ball to the Hart 16, run by Anderson for -1 (looked like he was running an option and was completely
stunned to find Casselberry in his face), screen pass to 42 for 10 yards down to the Hart 7, run by Hogan for 2, and then
pass to No. 18 for 5 yards and the TD. The PAT attempt hit the left upright so it was Los Osos 12-7 with :42 left in the half.
Hart got another spectacular return by Wheeler -- 80 yards down to the Los Osos 21-yard line with :30 seconds and 3 timeouts
remaining. This normally is where Hart does very well. Not so on Friday night: first play SACK for -7 (we were screaming "throw
it, throw it"). Lyon had plenty of protection but held the ball too long. On the next play, Hart got nailed with a blocking
infraction (not holding) which moved the ball back 15 more yards. On the third play, Lyon once again held the ball too long
and was SACKED for an 8-yard loss and lost the ball as well. The boobirds came out on that little series.
Los Osos got the ball on the Hart 49: run by Anderson for 7 then an incomplete down to the endzone and it was halftime.
Hart’s first half running game, but for the sacks, was fairly good: Howell had 76 yards on 4 carries, Casselberry
had 10 yards on 2 carries and Lyon had -13 on 5 carries. The passing was a little weird in that Lyon was really long on several
passes -- too many Wheaties I guess. He finished the half at 6 of 14, 39 yards and 1 TD.
The second half started with a short return by Howell and Hart at the 21: pass to Casselberry for 7, run by Lyon for 10,
pass to Wheeler for 5, illegal procedure penalty, incomplete (knockdown), a great pass down the field to Yudin that called
back on illegal block, incomplete and punt.
Los Osos got about 8 yards on the return and started at the Hart 45: on the first play, the Grizzles ran an option to
the right and botched the pitch. Auten recovered for Hart at the 50.
Hart: pass to Wheeler for 19, run by Howell for 2, pass to Casselberry for 6 and then run by Howell for 23 and the TD.
Hart 14-12 at 8:48.
Los Osos got a gigantic 78-yard return where virtually every kid on the Hart team had a shot at the returner. They started
at the Hart 16: run by Hogan for 2, run by Chase for 7, run by Anderson for 1 but barely short of the first down at the 6;
Anderson run for 1 and the first down at the 5. Then the game changing play of the night: Anderson threw to the right side
of the endzone to what appeared to be an open receiver. Luna stepped in front of it and returned it 66 yards (and got caught
from behind by a lineman!). There was a personal foul called on Los Osos at the end of the play so Hart started the next series
at the Los Osos 19.
Hart: run by Howell for 3; penalty for a late hit moved it to the 8. Run by Lyon for 8 and the TD. Hart 21-12 at 5:22
in the third.
Los Osos got a short return on the ensuing kickoff and started at the 10 but then on the first play Hart got tagged with
late hit which moved the ball out to the 25: run by Hogan for 15, run by Anderson for 1, incomplete, SACK for -15 and punt.
Hart at the 40: run by Howell for 3, pass to Embree for 18, incomplete, pass to Howell for 6, incomplete (drop), run by
Howell for 5, run by Lyon for 4, pass to Howell for 1 [END OF QUARTER] run by Howell for 3; then with 4th down and 6 at the
20, Lyon threw Wheeler in the endzone -- incomplete. (I liked the call!)
Los Osos at the 20: run by Hogan for -3, pass for 10, run by Anderson for 15, incomplete (penalty for illegal receiver
downfield declined), pass to 42 for 29 yards, run by Anderson for 3 down the Hart 18. The next play was a little confusing.
Chase ran the ball to the Hart 8 but Los Osos got a 15-yard penalty for unsportsman like conduct which moved it back out to
the 23 but with a first down. Anderson then threw 4 straight incompletes and Hart got the ball at the 23.
Hart: run by Howell for 2, pass to Yudin for 11 (first and only catch of the night), run by Howell for 7, run by Casselberry
for 2, run by Lyon for 2, run by Howell for 4, run by Howell for 2, run by Lyon on a draw for 4, run by Lyon on 4th down for
1, run by Howell for 1, run by Howell for 3, run by Howell for -2 and punt.
Los Osos at the 19 with a little over 3 minutes to play: pass to No. 6 for 7, pass for 10, pass to Hogan for 10, pass
to Garcia for 24 down to the Hart 31, penalty for holding moved the ball back to the 44, pass for 12 and pass to Garcia at
the right, back of the endzone. He snagged it with one hand for the TD. The PAT was good and it was 21-19 with 1:47 to go.
Only problem for Los Osos: no timeouts left.
On the onside kick, Hart (apparently) recovered, Los Osos got called for illegal touching (touched too soon) and Hart
got tagged for a personal foul. When it was all sorted out, Hart had the ball at the Hart 37 with 1:40 to play. Three knees
later and it was over.
Comments: Howell had a very good night rushing. He looked like the real deal that everyone has been expecting to see all
season. In my view, this was easily his best game of the year.
Lyon's first half passing was, to say the least, erratic. He had wide open receivers and, on all but one of the incompletes,
overthrew them. A couple sure TDs went a'glimmering. The three first half sacks were all coverage sacks. He had plenty of
time. The two sacks on the last series before halftime were irksome because he really should have simply unloaded the ball
to avoid the loss of yardage. Lyon steadied up considerably in the second half, his percentage went up and but for a couple
of drops his stats would have been excellent. The rushing remained fairly consistent throughout, including by Lyon. Yudin
clearly was hurting. Hopefully, he'll be back next week.
The play-calling was a little erratic but Hart's last series in the fourth quarter was great, 11 runs and 1 pass. Ultimately,
Hart had to punt but the Indians ran a ton of time off the clock and forced Los Osos to use all it's timeouts. What I did
like about the play-calling is that it was generally far more agressive that what we've seen most of the year with a lot of
passes downfield. Off the mark -- true. But I liked the bigger field. If Lyon's on the mark next week, there are touchdowns
in those throws.
The defense had it's one "big" screwup in the first half, giving up a 50-yard run. They more than made up for
it with 2 INTs and a fumble recovery. Both of Hart's second half scores followed a turnover.
The prevent defense still needs some work. As in the Loyola game, Hart DBs played so deep and soft that the opponent got
a ton of yards -- quickly -- underneath and scored in short order.
If you like imperfect thrillers, Hart's the place to be. Seven of 12 games have been decided by a TD or less, most decided
in the last minute.
Next week: Mission Viejo at COC. Let's make it an all-Foothill League finale!
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