Muir Finds Enough Rhythm to Defeat Hart, 28-14

Muir High Coach Jim Brownfield spent so much of the last week whining about his team’s injuries and lack of size that Hart Coach Rick Scott was offering to pull out a violin and play a sad song.

The feeling was that Muir couldn’t be that pitiful.

True, It Turned out.

Muir (13-1), lived up to its No. 1 ranking in the Coastal Conference Friday night at College of the Canyons, tap dancing all over Hart, 28-14, to win the conference championship.

The lead players: Mustang quarterback James Dunn in his first starring role along with a regular: Cary Grant.

Grant, a running back, rushed for only 26 yards, but had 11 catches for 160 yards and a very important touchdown.

Dunn, who spent most of the season handing off to running back Ricky Ervins, completed 19 of 28 pass attempts for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Dunn passed for only 1,101 yards during the regular season, but he completed 50 of 71 for 665 yards and 10 touchdowns in Muir’s last Three playoff wins.

Muir was forced to pass because of an injury to Ervins, who rushed for 1,218 yards during the regular season. He was slowed by a sprained ankle during the playoffs.

Said Brownfield: “We were forced to throw . . . thak goodness.”

Hart (9-4-1), managed 274 yards in total offense, but much of that came late in the game and after the game’s outcome was obvious.

“The defense just played a hell of a game,” said Brownfield, who won his first conference championship in 15 years as a high school coach. “We took away their running game and never let that quarterback of theirs get untracked.”

Jim Bonds, who had thrown for 2,252 yards coming into the game for a Hart single-season record, completed 14 of 20 passes for 164 yards but was ineffective until it was too late.

Hart’s only impressive drive of the game came on its first possession of the second half.

The Indians drove 67 yards on 11 plays to score as they finally managed the right blend of running, passing and Muir penalties.

Bonds completed passes of 14 and 17 yards to Jim Shrout to keep the drive alive, but the key play was on offside call on Muir on a fourth-and-two situation for Hart.

The penalty gave the Indians a first down, and Bonds eventually scored on a quarterback sneak from a yard out.

Before the Hart offense had settled into seats on the sideline, Muir scored again as Dunn eluded a heavy rush in time to hit Grant, who ran past two Hart defenders for a 57-yard touchdown pass play.