Bonds, Hart Coast by Newbury Park

Hart quarterback Jim Bonds threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the Indians to a 33-14 win over Newbury Park in the opening round of the Southern Section playoffs Friday night at College of the Canyons.

Bonds, a junior, completed 16 of 26 passes for 183 yards to move Hart into the quarterfinals of the Coastal Conference against Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara defeated Hart, 28-18, in its second game of the season.

“He pulled us up by our boot straps,” Hart Coach Rick Scott said of his quarterback. “He made things happen.”

Bonds was at his best late in the first half.

The Indians and Panthers were tied at 14 when Bonds took over at his own 15 with 1:44 remaining in the second quarter.

Using the clock effectively, he moved the Indians down to the Panther 23-yard line with four seconds left in the half.

As the clock expired, Mitch Spake kicked a 40-yard field goal to give Hart a 17-14 lead at the half.

On the drive that put the Indians (7-3-1) ahead for good, Bonds completed six passes.

His biggest completion was a 18-yard pass to Jim Shrout on a fourth-and-16 from the Panther 41.

“That drive broke their spirits,” said Scott, a former offensive coordinator at Newbury Park.

If those three points didn’t demoralize the Panthers (6-4-1) enough, then the second half did.

Eric Ferguson returned the second-half kickoff 56 yards to the Panther 28.

Hart advanced the ball to the three but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Spake with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

On the third play of the fourth quarter, Bonds demonstrated some of his ability that led Scott to call him the “best junior I’ve ever coached” before the season.

On a third-and-10 from the Panther 47, Bonds somehow escaped an onslaught of rushers to throw a screen pass to Chris Hite.

The result was a 47-yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 26-14 lead.

Later in the game, Bonds scored on a 6-yard keeper to put the game away.

Spake’s extra point with 1:04 left made it 33-14 and nearly ignited a brawl.

After the kick, players suddenly started taking swings at each other. One Newbury Park player kicked a Hart player, causing both benches to run onto the field.

But order was quickly restored and the Indians soon had their seventh straight win.

Hart had started the season ranked No. 1 in the conference.

The Indians then went 0-3-1 before rallying to go undefeated in the Foothill League.

Hart repeated its season pattern of starting slow against Newbury Park, the third-place representative of the Marmonte League.

On the first play of the second quarter, Mike Cox went in from one yard out to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.

It stayed that way when Eric Armao’s kick was blocked by Tim McLean.

Hart responded with a seven-play, 71-yard drive.

Bonds’ 10-yard pass to John Libby tied the score with 9:35 left, then Spake’s kick gave Hart a 7-6 lead.

Hart made it 14-6 just 32 seconds later when Cedric Ingram intercepted a pass by Jayson Merrill and returned it 29 yards for a score.

Jim Vander Toorn had tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage and Ingram grabbed it and raced untouched for the touchdown.

Merrill came back on the Panthers’ next possession to forge a tie.

On a third-and-15 from the Hart 38, Merrill found Sean Grady wide open down the middle for a touchdown.

Grady then caught a pass from Steve Muscarella for two points to tie the score with 3:54 left in the half.