Larimore’s return amazing and inspirational for Hart

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Sure, Johnny MacArthur’s kick was amazing, but the guy who held Hart by inspirational strings during its 24-21 victory over Saugus on Friday was linebacker Patrick Larimore, pictured left.

On Wednesday morning, the UCLA-bound Larimore accepted the fact that his prep football career was over. Four different doctors told him it would be impossible for him to play with a torn ligament in his left thumb Friday night, and he grudgingly prepared for season-ending surgery.

But once he learned at the hospital that his surgery would have to be postponed, another doctor said the unthinkable to Larimore.

‘He said, ‘You know, I could just put it in a cast for you and you should be OK’,’’ Larimore said. ‘I couldn’t believe it when he said that because everyone else told me no.’

Larimore practiced Wednesday and Thursday with the Indians before taking the field Friday night, when he played a critical role in keeping Saugus’ offense under control. Sure, it wasn’t his best game of the season, but just having him on the field was the biggest emotional lift the Indians could have hoped for.

‘He’s just a team player and he’s our heart and soul,’ Hart RB Delano Howell said. ‘It was great to see him out there and I was grateful he could play in this game because we couldn’t have done it without him.’

(In the bottom photo, Hart QB B.R. Holbrook, left, RB Delano Howell, middle, and Larimore, right, pose with the Victory Bell after the game. The Victory Bell is awarded to the top football team in the Santa Clarita Valley each year).

-- Austin Knoblauch