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Hart 2004 -- September
As I noted at the end of last season, Hart returns an unusually large number of experienced players this season. Here's
how things look to me (due to the press of career, I have had far less time to watch the kids this summer and missed the scrimmage
on Friday some my information is more fragmented than usual).
Quarterback: Any discussion of the Hart offense starts with the quarterback. I watched Tyler Lyon as a JV at the beginning
of last season and, quite frankly, was not too impressed. At the time I did not understand just how inexperienced he was (due
to injury, he played very little as a freshman). However, by the time the Hart JV got into league play, you could the see
the improvement with each game. I saw only two passing tournaments this summer. The learning curve and, just as importantly,
Lyon's confidence level went up sharply with each set of downs he played. At 6'5", I think Lyon may be the tallest QB
has ever had. He has a very good arm, is fairly agile and getting noticeably quicker as he adjusts to all that growth. Certainly
all of Hart's opponents, particularly in the early games, know he's untested and will make every effort to rattle him with
a lot of blitz packages. How effective will that be? The Hart line should be good so it probably will be hard to get to him.
He's got terrific, experienced and unusually tall, fast receivers and some good runners. From what I've seen, a lot of Hart's
opponents may pay a big price if they rely too heavily on blitz tactics.
Running Back: Bryan Toledo is very quick, reasonably big and strong. He's not as tall or as heavy as last year's RB Dan
Howell but it appears to me that he has better acceleration, better lateral movement and better hands. Robbie Casselbury started
last season as a DB on the varsity and moved down to JV where he too was very impressive at running back. Like Toledo, he
is very quick and particularly adept at taking advantage of his blocking. However, he's pretty light meaning he'll be tough
to catch but probably is not strong enough to escape or big enough to drag defenders once they latch on to him. The difference
at RB between 2003 and 2004 will be that the current crop of RBs are smaller and may not be as formidable blockers or straight
ahead runners as Howell but will be quicker, with better acceleration and with better hands. The resources that a defense
will have to dedicate to deal with the running backs -- screens and draws in particular -- should take some of the pressure
off Lyon. There is a third player who apparently got a lot of time in the scrimmage game that I know nothing about. Another
kid, James Wheeler, was a standout at JV level until he was sidelined by grades.
Receivers: Hart will start the season at receiver as strong as they have ever been. Ryan Wolfe has the potential to be
one of the best ever at Hart. Evan Surratt is not far behind. He was the second leading receiver last season behind Ciccone,
the leading receiver in the championship game and will only get better. Wolfe and Surratt are both very tall, around 6'3",
considerably taller than most DBs. Both are very fast. Wolfe's running style is so fluid I think most people don't realize
just how fast he is. He really goes after the ball. Terry Leigh started the 10 regular games last season at slot but was sidelined
when Wolfe returned in the playoffs. Because those three played so much last season, bank on this: their "run after catch"
numbers will explode this season. It's a very consistent phenomena at Hart that receivers really start to rack up the yards
in their second season as varsity starter. Those three plus Dillon Christensen, Troy Yudin (last year's leading JV receiver
with exceptionally "sticky" hands) and possibly Tyler Wilson, Ohre Kilpatrick (who had some nice moments in the
summer) and Todd Hunt, will form the most formidable receiver group with which Hart has started a season.
Offensive Line: Hart returns two of five starters from last season: Gargantuan Guard Dusty Green (325?) and very tall
Zimmerman at LT (6'6" 255 according to the Hart website). The other guard will be Jr. Adam Best (6'1" 235). I'm
not sure who the other tackle is (Ricky Vitallo, 245?). The center spot apparently will be filled by Tim Davis (235) who I
am told was sidelined much of the last two years by health problems (toxic mold in the house?). There are a couple of other
kids who clearly will fit into the mix, mostly notably Jr. Jackson Smith (6'3" 265) who has been nursing a knee problem
since school started (MRI this week?). While having big kids is nice, having quick, strong kids with good technique will trump
pure size any day. It looks, for the most part, that this group has almost all those qualities.
Kicker: Dillon Christensen kicked off last year and occasionally kicked PATs. He's got a good leg (the ability to get
it to the endzone is a huge asset in High School football). I don't know who will punt. I would qualify punting as one of
the weaknesses for Hart over the years with no kid particularly standing out at that position. Some of Hart's punters in the
past have included David Neill, Kyle Boller and Dan Howell last season -- great players but not exactly booming punters.
Defensive Line: Hart's biggest 2003 weakness, particularly early in the year, was on the line. I think there is some huge
potential there. Steve Burton, a junior returns at DE as does Eric Herskovitz at DT. Herskovitz, though somewhat on the small
side is strong, quick and unrelenting. Junior J. T. Hartmire will start as a DT. He was on the varsity last year at the beginning
of the season but was moved back down to JV. I think he has the size (295) and athleticism (starter on freshman and JV basketball
teams) to be one of the best defensive linemen to ever play at Hart. His biggest shortcoming apparently is inconsistent effort,
dominating on one play and then taking a vacation on the next. If he irons out those issues, the potential may become a reality
and he will control the middle of the line. Steve Defeo apparently will be the other starter at DE. He's reasonably tall and
purportedly very fast. Defeo played at Hart as freshman (and soph?) but was at Edison last year living with his mother. This
looks to be an improved area for Hart.
Linebacker: Darin "Bubba" Hetman played most of last season at MLB and will be there again. He's neither huge
nor fast but very savvy and likes to hit (and you gotta love any linebacker named "Bubba"). Brock Ardnt started
last year as an OLB but was moved to the DL where he did well. He's tall and rangy. I'm not sure whether Wolfe will be at
LB or as a DB.
Defensive Back: Robbie Moore should be at FS. I'm not sure of the rest of the group but it appears to include Surratt,
Wolfe, Casselbury, Christensen, Toledo, Kilpatrick, Wheeler and Patrick Meza.
In sum: Hart will be very formidable with an unusual amount of depth, experience and team speed.
Valencia:
QB and receivers are not questions. A lot of the line spots appear pretty thin but then I don't know the kids too well
on the Vikings and I may be missing something there. Defensively, Valencia gave up a lot of points but also made some great
plays (particularly some INTs). Unless they become a lot more consistent, the Vikings will have a tough time with some of
their opponents. Will this be the year the Vikings overtake Hart? A little history: in the first nine meetings, Valencia lead
only once -- in the first quarter of the first game in 1996. They were close in the first half only twice, in 1998 and 1999.
This past season was different in that the Valencia offense jumped out to a big lead 28-7 in the first third of the game but
Hart took over after that, outscoring Valencia 35-7 in the last two-thirds of the game. While Valencia's offense will likely
be even more impressive than last year with Herrick at the helm for the second season, I wouldn't count are Hart's defense
being so accommodating as they were in 2003. With the potential for a bigger and faster Hart defensive line, the QB is likely
to feel far more pressure than he did last year.
Canyon:
While Canyon has made huge strides over the last three seasons, particularly the last two, it appears that they don't
quite have the horses to stay up with Hart and Valencia in the coming season. The biggest problem for the Cowboys last season
was that they were -- comparatively -- small on the line and overall just a little slow. I don't know the kids that well be
it doesn't appear to me to be much different this coming season.
Some folks seem to view Canyon as some sort of upstart program which is far from the facts. Canyon went to the semi-finals
for 8 straight years in the 80s and made it to the finals 4 times in that stretch, winning three consecutive championships
in 83-85, including a 43-game winning streak. Harry Welch, the current coach, was at the helm at the time. Canyon had a huge
drop off beginning about 1991 and resulted in a 10-year dry spell from 1992-2001 in which they had a single playoff win and
missed the playoffs entirely in some years. Welch came back in 2001. Canyon was 3-7 that year, 10-2 the next, losing (badly)
only to MV and Hart and 11-2 this past season, again losing (badly) only to MV and Hart. I don't view Welch as a particularly
innovative coach but there is no question he is a very effective motivator and gets the kids to give 100%.
Saugus:
I don't see that there will be huge differences from this past season, on the other hand it seems that every two or three
seasons it is Saugus -- not Valencia or Canyon -- that puts a real scare into Hart. With a returning QB and a fair amount
of other returners, who knows. (Saugus was the last team in the SCV to beat Hart -- soundly -- in 1991; Saugus came within
a hair's breadth of beating Hart in both 1997 and 2001).
Burroughs and Burbank:
Burbank was markedly improved in 2003 but still several cuts below the better teams. I don't know why that would change.
Ditto Burroughs.
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