|
I did not attend this game. At the time, I was in La Rioja, Argentina but I did get reports from friends and, of course,
read the newspapers when I got home.
First thing: there were huge fires all over Southern California so the game was rescheduled from Friday to Monday. We
first learned of the problem when we got to our hotel in Cordoba, Argentina and turned on CNN. The first report: Massive
fires in Santa Clarita, California with footage of "hamburger hill" aflame. Yikes!
Now to the game. Hart broke the Southern Section record for consecutive league victories with the Indians' 61st straight
league win dating back to 1990. Sean Norton completed 15 of 18 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns. Evan Surratt had
3 TD catches, including a 49-yarder on Hart's second possession. He finished with 156 yards on only 5 catches.
Burroughs sophomore RB, Thomas Kyle, rushed for 196 yards on 21 carries with runs, including runs of 45, 32 and 52 yards.
Here is DRinSCV's (the ultimate stat guy)summary:
Hart Rolls Past Burroughs
Sean Norton connected on 16 of 19 passes for 288 yds and 5 TDs as the Hart Machine rolled over Burroughs of Burbank, 40-0,
November 3rd at College of the Canyons. After an 0-3 start, Hart has now won 5 straight games, and with a win over Saugus
this coming Friday will assure itself of a 23rd consecutive winning season.
There was little doubt at any point in the game about which team would end up on top. Hart jumped out to a 33-0 halftime
lead, and though Burroughs had a pair of missed field goals they never got closer to the Hart end zone than the 16. Meanwhile,
Hart scored on all 5 of its first-half possessions, with four of those scores coming on Norton TD tosses.
Burroughs started the game with the ball, and drove to the Hart 16 on their very first possession. A 45-yd run by super-sophomore
Thomas Kyle got Burroughs into Hart territory, and only Kevin Ciccone chasing him down from behind and tackling him at the
25 prevented Kyle from reaching the end zone. But the Burroughs offense was unable to get another first down, so on came kicker
James Cullen to try a 33-yd field goal. The kick was more than long enough, but stayed wide right, keeping the game scoreless.
But it wouldn't remain scoreless for long. Hart took the ball at the 20, and moved swiftly down the field. A 5-yd run
by Dan Howell was followed by a 13-yd Norton pass to Terry Leigh. Then came the big play: a 37-yd pass to Ciccone that got
the ball to the Burroughs 25. Howell carried the ball another 8 yds to the 17, and then Norton hooked up with Ciccone on a
17-yd TD pass. The whole drive, which covered 80 yds in 5 plays, took just 1:23 and Hart had all the points it would need,
even after Ciccone uncharacteristically missed the extra point wide left.
Burroughs went 3-and-out on its next possession, and Francisco Chaidez' punt went out of bounds at the Burroughs 48. On
the next play, Norton threw the ball to a wide-open Evan Surratt for a 48-yd TD pass. That made it 12-0, and Ciccone added
the conversion to make it 13-0.
When Burroughs got the ball after the next possession, the Hart defense made its presence felt. First, Kyle was thrown
for a 3-yd loss. Then on second down, DE Steve Burton sacked Burroughs QB Payne for a 7-yd loss. And on third down, LB Brock
Arndt sacked Payne for another 7-yd loss.
Chaidez' punt took a healthy bounce and rolled dead at the Hart 43, but that just allowed the Hart offense to rack up
a few more yds. This time the drive took 10 plays and nearly 4 minutes, and on the first play of the second quarter Norton
threw a 5-yd scoring pass to TE Brian Elledge in the back of the end zone. A 13-yd run by Howell had started the drive, and
a 15-yd pass to Leigh had moved the ball to the Burroughs 29, but it was more of a methodical march rather than the quick-strike
score of Hart's first 2 TDs. Hart went for 2 points on the conversion, but Norton's pass fell incomplete, so the score was
19-0 Hart.
Things got worse for Burroughs on the ensuing kickoff when Gavin Galette fumbled the ball on the return, and it was recovered
by Hart's Scott Amorelli at the Burroughs 19. Three plays later, Norton threw his 4th TD pass, this one going to Surratt from
10 yds out. That made it 26-0 less than 2 minutes into the second quarter.
Burroughs' next possession took a lot of time off the clock (5:30) but netted just 14 yds, and again Chaidez came on to
punt. His kick went just 19 yds, giving Hart the ball at the Burroughs 48. A 25-yd pass to Ciccone (shortened by a penalty)
followed by a 14-yd pass to Surratt got Hart to the 20, and a 9-yd pass to Norris Whitmore got the ball to the 2. The next
play was a rare incomplete pass on a ball that might have been caught (and would have been Norton's 5th TD of the half), but
that didn't make much difference because on the next play Howell powered through the pile for the TD. That made it 33-0, which
is where things stood at the half.
To start the second half, Hart got the ball but the Burroughs defense came out fired up. DE's Aaron Marcellino and John
Clark combined to sack Norton twice, and eventually forced Hart's first punt of the night. But when Burroughs got the ball,
they too were unable to move it, giving it back to Hart at their own 21.
After an 8-yd run by Howell and a pass to Howell that lost 4 yds, Norton dropped back for a 3rd-down pass and had to roll
to the right to avoid the pressure. But once he got a chance to look downfield, he saw a wide-open Evan Surratt behind the
defense, and delivered the ball to Surratt in stride. The result was a 75-yd TD pass, Norton's 5th of the night, and the final
score of the 40-0 game.
Burroughs had a chance to get on the board early in the 4th quarter after Payne ran for a 20-yd gain to the Hart 24. But
the drive stalled, and Burroughs was forced to try a 38-yd field goal. Cullen's kick was long enough, but sailed wide left.
Burroughs appeared to score late in the game when Kyle went around the left side and beat the defense down the sideline,
carrying the ball into the end zone. It would have been an 86-yd TD run, but it was ruled that there was an illegal block
at the Hart 25. Burroughs ended up turning the ball over on downs at the 30 four plays later.
In addition to Norton, Hart standouts included Surratt (5 catches, 154 yds, 3 TDs) and Ciccone (3 catches, 79 yds, 1 TD
and the saving tackle on defense on Burroughs' first drive). Howell had 55 yds on 11 carries and a TD, as well as 3 catches.
Four different Hart defensive players registered sacks, and the Hart defense allowed just 9 first downs on the evening.
For Burroughs, the only real standout on offense was Kyle. He finished with 217 yds on 21 carries, and had a pair of longer
runs shortened by penalties (including the 86-yd TD run that was shortened to 61 yds). The defense, despite surrendering 6
touchdowns, was strong in the second half. Marcellino and Clark led the way, combining for all or part of each of Burroughs'
4 sacks on the night and generating pressure on Norton.
This week, Hart plays host to Saugus on Friday night at College of the Canyons.
|
