Newhall Hart’s Brady White is helping revitalize Indians’ offense

From 1985 through 2003, Newhall Hart had a 19-season run of All-CIF quarterbacks. Jim Bonds (UCLA), David Neill (Nevada), Kyle Boller (California), Kyle Matter (Stanford) and Matt Moore (Oregon State) helped set a standard that inspired young boys in the Santa Clarita Valley to dream of being the Hart quarterback.

One of those dreamers was Brady White.

“I looked up to them when I was little,” he said. “They’ve had great careers, and I just want to follow in their footsteps at Hart.”

White, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior, is helping lead a revitalized Hart offense. The Indians haven’t won a Southern Section championship since 2003, but a high-powered offense with White at quarterback could end the drought.

He passed for 2,575 yards and 23 touchdowns as a sophomore during a season in which he learned on the job, resulting in some highs and lows.

“The lessons I’ve learned are to stay poised in all situations, to be a leader no matter if you’re down three touchdowns,” he said. “You have to stay consistent with your leadership and have the team respect you and lead by example.”

Accuracy is White’s strength. In seven-on-seven summer competitions, there were few quarterbacks more impressive.

Dean Herrington, the coach at Mission Hills Alemany and a former Hart quarterback, said: “You want arm strength and intelligence, but being an accurate thrower — that’s the greatest quality you can have in a quarterback. I’ve never seen a kid as accurate as Brady in seven-on-seven stuff. He’s getting bigger and faster, and I think he’s going to have a big year for Hart.”

When Hart has been good, it has relied on exceptional passing combinations. The duos are familiar to those who grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley: Bonds to Darryl Ingram; Steve McKeon to Cody Joyce; Sean Norton to Kevin Ciccone; Moore to Chris Steck; Matter to Jared Bazar; Boller to Jerry Owens.

In 2013, it’s the White to Trent Irwin combination that could cause big problems for defenses. Irwin, a junior, had 53 receptions and eight touchdowns last season.

“I don’t want to speak too soon, but those combinations from Hart are great, but we can be up there,” White said.

Hart’s Mike Herrington, entering his 25th season as coach, plans to turn loose White and give him more freedom and responsibilities.

“Last year, he was very successful, but it was a learning curve as a sophomore,” Herrington said. “Now as a junior, he’ll learn from the few mistakes he made, and I expect just great things from him.”

White comes from a sports family. His father, Deron, is a former Hart basketball player who’s a Pac-12 basketball official. His grandfather, Bill White, was the principal at Canyon Country Canyon. He has nephews and cousins playing softball, basketball and every sport imaginable. His cousin, Chase, is one of his top receivers at Hart.

“We love every sport,” White said.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATSondheimer