Hart is in the lead, 17-6, at halftime

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Hart didn’t open the second quarter the way it had hoped, after David Gru sacked B.R. Holbrook, forcing a fumble that Newbury Park recovered at midfield. The Panthers weren’t able to capitalize, resulting in a Colby Cameron punt deep into Hart territory. The long field didn’t matter to the Indians. They were determined to finish the quarter strong despite an inauspicious start.

Sure enough, Hart turned things around, thanks in large part to Delano Howell. The Stanford-bound senior keyed a nine-play, 94-yard drive with numerous big runs, highlighted by a 28-yard touchdown jaunt to give Hart a 10-6 lead. Howell found the end zone less than four minutes later, this time on a 30-yard touchdown reception from Holbrook, extending the advantage to 17-6 with 3:49 left in the half.

Defensively, the Indians got a much-needed boost from the return of linebacker Patrick Larimore, who’s been battling a hand injury for the better part of the last month. The UCLA-bound senior is wearing a protective cast over his left hand that actually looks a lot like a big white club. His play was key in limiting the Panthers‘ standout running back Chris Brown to 68 yards.

Newbury Park struggled moving the ball throughout the second quarter after finding success in the first. Hart, on the other hand, appears to be in a groove and is leading, 17-6, at the half. Check that, Delano Howell appears to be in the groove. He has more than 120 yards of total offense. The Panthers better devise a game plan to slow him down after intermission or it’s all over.

-- Sean Ceglinsky, guest blogger