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The game started out as a close run thing but ended up very lopsided. Turnovers were a big factor in the outcome.
Hart won the coinflip and after a touchback, started at the 20. The Indians moved briskly down the field with a little
help from Valencia penalties: 12-yard run by Norton; offsides Valencia (blitzers got over-anxious), 2-yard run by Norton;
11-yard pass to Kase; 6-yard pass to Ciccone, 26-yard run by Norton down to the 18; 5-yard offsides down to the 13; another
5-yard offsides down to the 8. Then --- interception in the endzone on a pass that bounced off the receiver and up into the
air. Valencia returned it to the 39.
Valencia went 3 and out but on a very surprising choice of plays: incomplete, sack, pass for 9 yards -- obviously foresaking
the run.
Hart started at the 21 (no return on the punt) and moved it right down the field again: 7-yard pass to Howard; 12-yard
pass to Kase; 1-yard run by Howard; 16-yard pass to Kase; 9-yard draw play by Howard; 2-yard sneak by Norton; 26-yard pass
to Kase; 3-yard run by Howard and then a 2-yard run by Howard for the TD at 3:40 in the first quarter. The PAT was good (pay
attention here -- that was a BIG problem all night).
Hart kicked it into the endzone and Valencia started at the 20. The play calling was once again "interesting":
three-yard pass; 15-yard run by the QB after he was flushed out of the pocket; 9-yard pass; 13-yard run after the QB was once
again flushed; 7-yard run by the QB (called play as opposed to flushed); incomplete pass; 30-yard pass to Blair and then a
3-yard run by Charles Burnley for the TD. The PAT missed so it was Hart 7-6 with :58 left in the first quarter.
Hart got a nice return from Kevin Ciccone and started at the 40: 9-yard run by Howard; 6-yard run by Norton [QUARTER],
45-yard pass to Ciccone on the first play of the quarter for a TD. The PAT missed so it was 13-6 Hart.
Valencia got jammed on the kickoff so started at the 15. The first play was an incomplete pass (a knockdown by lineman
Wheaton). The next play was THE shining moment for Valencia -- an 85-yard run by Burnley for a TD. The PAT was good so it
was 13-13 with 11:29 left in the half.
Burnley did something at the end of the run which was both classless and stupid. As soon as he got into the endzone, he
stopped put the ball down, stood over it and did the punk pose (hands on hips, chin jutting -- probably had a sharpie in his
sock) and stared at the scoreboard. I think it really pissed off the Hart kids (certainly pissed off the fans).
Hart, on the next series, struggled going sack, incomplete, incomplete.
Valencia fans got a little weird here: the punt returner signaled fair catch and caught the ball and the Valencia students
screamed their heads off as if it was a touchdown or something. Strange. Don't know what caused the outburst.
Valencia went from their 48 down to the Hart 24 but stalled out (6 plays, 3 of which were passes, 1 completed to Burnley,
1 incomplete and 1 sack). The Vikings tried a field goal which was way short (41 yards).
Hart took over at the 20. 9 plays later (5 pass, 4 run) and Howard scored on a 3-yard pass. Then some more weirdness:
the first PAT attempt missed but there was an offsides penalty. Second attempted missed but there was a roughing the kicker
penalty. The third attempt went through and it was 20-13 Hart with 3:56 left in the half.
Valencia started at the 27. The first play was incomplete. The second was a pass for minus 2 yards. On the third play,
Elledge, the Hart MLB, leveled the Valencia QB who coughed the ball up at the 20 and Hart recovered on the 10.
Hart scored 3 plays later (2 pass and 1 run) on a 1-yard plunge by Lafferty and it was 26-13 Hart with 2:05 in the half.
Once again the PAT missed.
On the ensuing series, Valencia started at the 20. The first play was a completed pass to Blair for 10 yards. The next
was an INT by Cody Kase which he returned to the 33.
Hart's next play was a 10-yard sack (step into that pocket -- not back!). Then some more weirdness -- Norton threw a long
pass to Ciccone at about the 17. From my vantage point it looked like Ciccone caught it but somewhere along the line it was
stripped from him and it was Valencia ball at the 17.
Valencia had a 30-yard pass, an incomplete, then a dumb pass for 13 (the receiver ran toward the middle after catching
a sideline pass, forcing Valencia to use the last timeout). One more pass took the ball down to the Hart 33 and Valencia,
somewhat inexplicably, tried a 50-yard field goal (which was way short) to end the half.
Norton was either 14 of 18 for 233 yards and 2 TDs and 1 INT or he was 13 of 18 and 207 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs --
I really don't know what happened or how to score the apparent "strip" of the pass to Ciccone.
Meanwhile Valencia racked up 118 yards passing and 152 yards rushing in the first half which may be the most yards against
Hart in the first half since the Los Al game in the first week.
The second half was a much different story.
First Valencia series: 3 and out (an inc, and 2 short runs)
Hart started the first series at the 17 thanks to another goofy Ciccone punt return. The ball came at him very flat. Rather
than just letting it go by, he stuck a hand out and touched it, then had to turn and chase it clear down the field to about
the 7. WHEW!
Norton completed a pass for 22-yard to Wilson on the first play, inc, 28-yards to Ciccone, 5-yards to Howard, inc, 7-yard
run by Norton, (delay penalty) and then 31 yards to Ciccone for the TD. The PAT was GOOD (WHEW) and it was 33-13 with 7:36
in the third.
Valencia started the next drive at the 18 and really was jammed up but Hart had a pass interference call which gave Valencia
a first down at the 47. On 3rd down Hart was hit with a late hit call for another first down at the Hart 28. Next play: FUMBLE
by Burnley.
Hart started at the 21: pass to Wilson for 7, run by Howard for minus 1; pass to Howard for 58! to the 15. Run by Howard
to the 10, another run by Howard to the 7, a run by Norton to the 1 foot line and then a TD by Norton to make it 39-13 with
1:18 in the third. Hart went for 2 and did not get it.
Next series: Valencia had a 6-yard run by Burnley and then a fumble by the QB. Hart ran one play (a sack) to end the third
quarter. Hart then had another sack and an inc and then punted from the Valencia 43. Wouldn't you know it, the kicker finally
latches on to one and put it into the endzone.
Valencia then almost inexplicably went to a total running game. The Vikings consumed almost all the clock but moved well.
Their QB got knocked out of the game toward the end of the drive [late breaking news: he's gone for the rest of the year with
separated shoulder and broken collar bone] which pretty much took away the pass. In any event, the Vikings had a 15-play drive
with only one pass (inc) but ran out of downs at the Hart 3.
Hart took over and moved out to the 20, then had 2 consecutive losses on runs and a delay (deliberate) penalty and punted
with 21 seconds left. The punt was blocked out of the back of the endzone for a safety. Hart 39-15.
Next classless act. Hart kicked off. On Valencia's first play the QB was sacked. And these BOZOs called timeout with two
seconds left. Last play was another interception by Kase. He showed some class and simply took a knee. I kind of got the
feeling he really wanted to give a shot at returning it.
So there you have it. Hart is now 9-0 against Valencia and had a clean sweep at all levels in league.
Norton was 7 for 10, 163 yards and 1 TD in the second half for a total of 396 yards on 21 of 28, 3 TDs and 1 INT or alternatively
370 yards on 20 of 28 3 TDs and 2 INTS, I just don't know how that one in the first half was scored. [More late breaking news:
it was scored as an INT]
Valencia had 106 yards of offense in the second half and the QBs were 0 for 4 with 1 INT. Of that 106 yards (all rushing)
76 of it came on the drive in the fourth quarter. I think its fair to say the Hart coaches made some nice adjustments at halftime.
Hart's running back, Paxton Howard, had a particularly nice night. He had 8 catches for 154 yards and 16 runs for 36 yards
and two touchdowns.
Burnley had 2 receptions for net 11 yards in the first half but his rushing stats IN THE FIRST HALF were off the charts:
4 carries for 113 yards including that 85-yarder. The second half was a different story: 10 carries for 33 yards.
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