Hart, Saugus Make Coaches Prophets, 0-0

Saugus Coach Al Hansen and Hart Coach Rick Scott agreed on an important point before their two teams, both winless, met Friday night at College of the Canyons.

“We’ve got to get our offense going,” Hansen said. “If we don’t, the game could end up tied.”

And Scott: “It’s going to be a defensive battle. Right now, both teams are pretty even.”

When Hart kicker Mitch Spake missed wide to the right on a 15-yard field goal attempt with :05 seconds left in the game, he made a prophet out of both coaches as Saugus and Hart played to a 0-0 tie.

“It was like watching two lepers rot,” said Scott, whose team is now 0-4. “They outquicked us and played us tough. That’s a win for them.”

Hart had the last chance to win the game after the Indians’ Jim VanDerToorn recovered Saugus quarterback Joel Condren’s fumble on the Hart 34-yard line with :32 seconds left in the game. Hart quarterback Jim Bonds, who completed 9 of 21 passes for 150 yards, drove his team to the 15-yard on the strength of two passes to tai1back hris Hite.

When Spake’s field goal attempt failed, the Saugus bench erupted with joy.

And why not?

The Centurions are 0-2-2, but they have given up just nine points in their last three games.

“We feel good about it,” Hansen said. “Our kids will probably handle it like a win. Because of everything said about Hart before the season, I guess it is. I know one thing though, this is as fine a defense as we’ve had at Saugus.”

Nose guard Richie Stanford led the Saugus defense in the Hart backfield all night long. Stanford was in on numerous stops and helped hold the Hart running backs to just six yards rushing.

The Saugus offense was no highlight film either.

Coldren completed just three of 20 passes for 53 yards. The ground attack consisted of Scott Hutchings who carried the ball 19 times for 82 yards.

In the first half, it looked like Saugus was going to produce some real offense for the first time this season.

But the only excitement before the start of the third quarter was provided by the Saugus High dance team that performed at halftime.

The Centurions received the opening kick-off and took possession at their own 19-yard line.

Hutchings, who normally plays fullback for Saugus, was moved to tailback, replacing the injured Rodney Bradshaw.

Hutchings carried the ball six times during a Saugus drive that reached the Hart 31-yard line. But it was also Hutchings, who fumbled the ball away with 7:04 left in the quarter. Steve Sandusky recovered for Hart bringing the only offensive threat of the game to an end.

Before the game, Scott had watched his team warm up and pondered its fate. The Indians’ three previous losses had been to teams with a combined record of 9-0 going into Friday night’s games. A win was all his team needed, “ to get that snowball rolling,” he said.

When reminded of those comments after the game he chuckled.

“I guess what we have after tonite is a handful of ice.”