Foothill League Shocker: Hart and Valencia tie, 21-21

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I couldn’t believe my ears when I got to Editor Bob’s message on my cell phone as I walked away from Sherman Oaks High School.

‘It’s Hart 21, Valencia 21.’

A tie? In the Foothill League?

That’s right. Apparently the Indians, you know the team we’ve got at No. 4 in our rankings and has been my ‘sure bet’ to win the Foothill League title, missed two field goal attempts from 34 yards with eight seconds left to finish tied with rival Valencia. The first attempt was called off by the refs because Valencia called a timeout, but it was actually blocked by the Vikings.

But I wasn’t there to see it (I was at Notre Dame-Loyola). Fortunately one of The Times’ baseball writers, Kevin Baxter was there, and he talked with a stunned Mike Herrington, Hart’s coach.

‘Unbelievable. We were in the red zone three times and didn’t score,’ he said. ‘We just gave up a lot big plays. It was a situation where we just didn’t do what we needed to do.’

Knowing how good the Indians can be, this is a total shocker. Sure, this week was probably one of the most bizarre weeks Herrington has had to endure in his coaching career, thanks to all the practice cancellations and modifications, but Valencia also had to go through the same things.

‘It was more than missing practice,’ Herrington said, ‘it was missing preparation.’

Still, you have to give credit to Valencia for not giving up. The Vikings kept it close the whole way and even held onto a 14-13 halftime lead thanks to a late, first-half TD that was fueled by two Hart penalties.

But who would have guessed the hero of the Canyon game, kicker Johnny MacArthur, would miss back-to-back field goal attempts to beat Valencia. Not me. Heck, I didn’t think it would even come to that.

This one was a shocker and I still can’t believe it. Who’s going to win the Foothill League? Is Hart still the favorite? What about Viking killer Saugus or defending Div. I state bowl champs Canyon?

There’s going to be some fantastic football as we get down to the push for the final playoff spot.

- Austin Knoblauch

- Editor Bob: For all those Hart Indians fans crying over this one, check out this YouTube video of Iron Eyes Cody and you’ll see you have some company: