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[Comments to my son in a letter]
Hart played Peninsula on Friday. It rained a lot all week and was pouring on Friday. The game was at Harbor College, a
horrible facility. (If it had not been raining, there would not have been nearly enough room for the Hart fans; the rain kept
a lot of people away). The field was basically a big mudhole with no grass in evidence whatsoever between the hashmarks and
the 10-yard lines. The sidelines were three inches deep in mud and the track was flooded.
Penisula is a straight-ahead power team with a big offensive line and three fairly big, fast backs. This is exactly the
type of team likely to give Hart trouble because of the tiny defensive tackles. The field conditions played into the Peninsula
type of game ( very muddy, so no fancy cuts really possible).
On Peninsula's first possession, Hart blocked a punt and got the ball on about the 10-yard line. On the second play from
scrimmage, Hart tried the double pass from the double tight-end formation. Neill threw to Boller and Boller bobbled and tried
to run. He was hit and broke his collar bone (this seemed to me a VERY questionable play call to start the game because Hart
ran it the previous week - surely the Peninsula guys recognized it from films). In addition to being the the backup QB, Boller
is the starting strong safety and the long snapper as well as an occasional receiver. It was a BIG psychological blow. Hart
was unable to move the ball and kicked a field goal. 3-0. I should also note that Hart's best receiver, Jerry Owens, was playing
with a broken toe and obviously not running too well.
Penisula took the kickoff, started at the 10 and moved the ball well on the ground (they threw one pass in this series,
the only one for the whole game that I recall). They scored on a long run. 7-3.
During this sequence of plays, Nate Small, a starting wide receiver for Hart and Boller's backup at strong safety, took
a hard helmet-to-helmet hit. When Hart got the ball back, Small was apparently a bit confused and dazed. A few plays later,
Neill threw the ball to him and he got nailed. As he started to walk off the field and then collapsed in the arms of the coaches.
The game was stopped for thirty minutes while an ambulance and paramedics were called. The whole time, the players just stood
around. The rain stopped during the entire time as well. Of course, as soon as they got Small on a stretcher, it started to
rain again. Hart was again stopped and had to punt (the freshman middle linebacker did the long snapping). Penisula scored
again. 14-3.
Hart then scored on a long pass. 14-10 at half.
Hart tried an onside kick at the beginning of the second half. Hart clearly recovered the ball but the ref ruled it was
recovered out of bounds (and thus a penalty because the kick went out of bounds). I have no idea how the ref knew where the
out of bounds was. It was completely obliterated by the rain and mud. Peninsula then took a little over nine minutes moving
the ball down the field and scored. 21-10.
Hart got stopped and Neill had to punt on 4th and 15. Neill got hammered -- automatic first down. Hart got stopped again
(after some penalties and a sack) but Neill completed a pass on 4th and 18 for a first down. Hart got another first down on
about the 9. After an incompletion, Neill got sacked twice so it was 4th and 30 (or 4th and goal) on the first play of the
fourth quarter. Neill completed a 28-yard pass -- 2 yards short.
Peninsula took over and then marched the length of the field to score again. 28-10. After Hart failed to move the ball
they scored again very late in the game.
Final: 35-10. That's the worst Hart loss I have ever seen.
The wet field really played into Peninsula's game but I think the rain (in addition to the wet field) was a real problem
for Hart. I can honestly say that Neill hasn't thrown a bad pass all year. He's throw a few off the mark but the actual flight
of the ball has always been beautiful. He threw several quackers in this game. Had the field been less slippery, several would
have been picked off but the defenders simple could not react. In addition, there were a number of drops. The loss of Boller
was somewhat debilitating. The loss of Small was emotionally devastating (by the way he's alright -- concussion and bruise
to lower back). For whatever reason, the Hart defense seemed incapable of tackling. They often met the runner right at the
line or even behind it and failed to bring 'em down. It was Hart's lowest point total since the game we went to against Crescenta
Valley High School when Delmatoff was QB and Hart lost 13-7.
All in all it still was a great season for Hart. No one picked them to be first in the Foothill league. Hart loses only
two significant players, Neill and Harrison. Boller has a better arm than Neill and I am sure someone will step into Harrison's
role so Hart should be terrific next year.
By the way, I don't know if you remember Kyle Boller. As a freshman, he was about 5'5". He played on our [recreational]
basketball team and could shoot well but was obviously very small. As the JV quarterback last year, he was about 5'6"
or so. This was very frustrating for him because his dad is about 6'2", his mom is 5'10" and his older sister (an
all-CIF Volleyball and Basketball player) is about 6'. All of sudden, Kyle has started to grow. I bet he's about 6'2"
now. He sees the field well and has a great arm so he'll carry on the Hart QB tradition well.
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