It was Hart's homecoming. Hart was 5-0-1 vs. Canyon was 6-0 (albeit against really inferior competition). COC was packed and those Canyon folks (some of the greatest fans around) make a lot of noise.

Here's the complete rundown:

Hart deferred and kicked off. The Canyon returner got hammered so the Cowboys started at about the 10. Canyon had one 22-yard pass for a first down and then it was three and out. Hart followed with a 3 and out including a sack.

Canyon was playing a lot of different defensive sets. Much of the game they set up with three down linemen, five linebackers, two corners and a safety. Generally the linebackers set up very deep. On occasion they went with 2 linemen and what appeared to be six backers. In short, they were simply saying to Hart, "we don't think you can run." It was a pretty effective scenario - for awhile. But no one makes adjustments better than Hart.

Back to the game. Canyon started their second drive at the Hart 46. Five plays later they were on the Hart 5 but really got stuck there with Montano (the Canyon RB) having two cracks at it for about a yard apiece and an incomplete pass. The Cowboys settled for a field goal and it was Canyon 3-0 with 3:31 left in the third. That was only the third time Hart has been behind in over two years. It didn't last long.

Hart started the next possession at the 20 and went 4 and out, the only notable play being a 28-yarder to Ciccone.

Canyon had 3 and out on 3 incomplete passes, having been pinned very deep in their own territory (they were very lucky to avoid a safety).

Hart started the next series at the Canyon 36 and six plays later scored from about the one inch line on a run by Lafferty. Hart's big play in the series was a 25-yard pass to Ciccone. Hart led 7-3 with 10:33 left in the second.

Canyon 3 and out.

Hart 3 and out (Hart was fortunate to recover Norton's fumble with an 11-yard loss).

On the ensuing series Canyon, starting at the 28 moved down to the Hart 26 but then gave the ball up on downs. (Canyon's last significant foray into Hart territory.) The big play was a 27-yard pass from Longshore out to the flat -- Hart's CB Ryan Wolfe tried for the INT but missed and the Canyon receiver was off to the races. The other big play in the series was the white hat (referree or umpire?) pulled a muscle or something in his lower leg and had to leave the game. The rest of the game was with 4 refs. They did a commendable job.

Hart really got into gear on the next series, moving from the 26 to a TD in 5 plays, the biggie being a 47-yard pass to RB Howard. Norton ran in the TD and Hart was up 14-3 with 2 minutes left in the half. Despite having had the entire world back in pass defense (or last least eight defenders) there consistently seemed to be a huge hole deep down the Canyon middle which is where the Hart RB caught his big pass.

Canyon once again started at the 20. It looked to be a three and out but Canyon faked the punt and managed another 3 downs before punting.

Hart started at the 27 and moved down the Canyon 25 with a couple ticks left in the first half. In came the Hart field goal team - BLOCKED! A Canyon player picked it up at about the 30 or so and returned it the length of the field for a TD. The PAT missed and it was 14-9 at half. It was only a partial boost for Canyon.

Hart came out for the second half, and immediately got a huge pass play only to have it called back on a holding penalty. So Hart immediately had another big pass to Wolfe for 22 yards and a first down but that was about it and Hart punted 3 plays later.

Canyon started at the 36 and got to about the Hart 44 before Longshore's pass was batted into the air and Hart's free safety, Coutin, intercepted with 6:16 in the third.

Hart once again started the series off with a big play only to have it called back on a hold. It was then 3 and out.

Canyon went three and out.

Hart, starting at the 38, scored 9 plays later on a 34-yard pass to Wolfe. Kase also had a big 3rd down catch on 3rd and 15 to keep the drive going. That ended the 3rd quarter and it was 21-9. While the Canyon defense was doing reasonably well, the Cowboy offense had been pretty much stuffed by Hart throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

The 4th quarter started with another 3 and out by Canyon. On the punt, Ciccone acted like he was going to field the ball but then let the ball hit the ground and jumped over it - he came within a whisker of touching it and the Canyon kids picked it up and would have easily returned it for a TD but the play was blown dead.

Hart, started at the 48 and ran the ball six consecutive plays down to the Canyon 19. Kevin Ciccone then caught a TD to make it 28-9 with 7:46 left in the game.

Canyon went three and out -- by this time the Hart defense was really getting to Longshore pretty consistently; he was taking a lot of hits.

On the next series Hart started at the 48 and scored 7 plays later to make it 35-9 (Howard on a six-yard run) with 1:43 left.

Canyon got a big return to the 45 and got down to about the Hart 18 as the game ended.

Hart had better players at almost every position and had a big edge at receiver. Nevertheless, Canyon is about 2 receivers away from being a very, very good team. And they are really ferocious on defense -- they really pop people.

Take at a look at the disparity in the passing game: Norton 6 for 12 and 146 yards in the first half with no TDs. Longshore was 6 for 20 and only 62 yards in the first half.

The disparity is really striking in the second half: Norton was 9 of 13 for 150 yards and 2 TDs. Longshore was 4 of 12 for 32 yards and an INT (3 of his completions and 22 of the yards came on the last series when Hart was in a prevent mode).

Until the last series of the second half, Canyon had only about 20 yards of offense -- factor in penalties and it was net zero. Canyon had 34 yards rushing the second half, over half of that on the last series. In short, after Canyon's initial field goal in the 1st quarter, the Cowboy offense was completely stopped.

While Hart was stymied through the first quarter, you could see the offense getting a firmer and firmer grasp on things. By the middle of the 3rd quarter there was little question who was in control of the game.

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