Dunivant Projects Hart Will Easily Defeat Temple City

Burroughs’ Coach Bob Dunivant, whose only losses this season were against Hart and Temple City--the teams that play tonight for the Northwestern Conference championship--volunteered to critique game films of the two finalists and offer his opinions on the title match. During the one-hour game-film session with Dunivant, three things became starkly apparent:

Hart needs a better running attack.

Temple City needs a better passing attack.

And Dunivant needs a better projector.

As the black and white films of Hart and Temple City clicked and scraped their way through the 16mm Bell & Howell Film-o-Sound projector and flickered onto a torn and tattered white surface that at one time must have been a movie screen, Dunivant pointed out examples of why he believes Hart will hand unbeaten Temple City a sound thrashing tonight.

Some of his observations:

“Hart has more firepower. They have a bigger and stronger offensive line and a little more versatility. They run well, and Jim Bonds can throw as well as any quarterback around. And in a championship game, the edge has to go to the team that can mix up the run and the pass.

“The thing about Temple City, though, is that they never make a mistake. They only run two or three formations the whole game, as opposed to 10 or 15 formations used by most teams. But Temple City is a strong, methodical team with a no-mistake offense. They could upset Hart just with their discipline and by forcing a few Hart mistakes.”

Burroughs was beaten soundly by Hart, 20-8, but came within one of rock star Prince’s moustache hairs of upsetting Temple City, losing 35-28 in the playoff semifinals. Dunivant said Temple City’s game plan against Hart will be the same one it has used all season.

Very simply, Temple City will attempt to run the ball up the middle so many times that the Citrus College field will have a trench down the center deep enough to conceal Raymond Burr.

“They’ve got three running backs all over 200 pounds, and they just run the ball right at you, over and over again,” Dunivant said. “They keep popping that No. 30 kid in there and wearing you down, taking five or six yards a pop. Every once in a while he breaks one for 20 or 25 yards, and then they start all over again, popping that kid up the middle.”

That kid is Mike Mooney, a 220-pound running back who carried 21 times for 201 yards in Temple City’s victory over Burroughs last week. Another running threat is quarterback Tim Vance, who scored three touchdowns on the ground against Burroughs.

But Dunivant said Temple City is in for a big surprise against Hart.

“Hart runs that 4-4 defense, with four down linemen and four linebackers, and they’re very good at closing down most teams’ rushing attack,” he said. “This film against us shows it. Hart just closed us down. Hart has problems with its pass defense and a good passing team could pose trouble for them. But Temple City only throws the ball about 10% of the time, just one out of every 10 plays. Running is their game, not passing.”

When Bonds leads his offensive team onto the field for Hart, Dunivant said the Temple City Rams could be in over their horns. He rates Temple City’s pass defense as its weakest area, giving it a modest 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. He rates Hart’s passing game as a 9.

“The problem is that Bonds is both a running and a passing threat,” Dunivant said. “If you want to gamble and play a strict pass defense, the kid will kill you. He is a fine runner. If you try to stop their running game, Bonds will score consistently. Chris Hite is one of the finest receivers around. The running and passing will keep Temple City off balance.

“Nobody has been able to shut down Hart’s passing game this season, and last week they had a good rushing game.”

Hite, a tailback who is also used as a receiver, has 82 catches for more than 1,083 yards this season. He also had 755 rushing yards, including 85 in last week’s semifinal win over Santa Maria. Fullback Andy Iacenda has rushed for 807 yards and 17 touchdowns, including 107 in last week’s win.

“This is the guy,” Dunivant said as Hite took a pitchout and sprinted 20 yards on the movie screen-type canvas draped over a bulletin board. “When he takes that pitch, he just goes. If Temple City is thinking about Bonds’ passing, I don’t think they can stop that kind of running.”

But Dunivant said Hart could encounter one problem.

“If Temple City can get a strong rush, they could win,” he said. “We sacked Bonds six times.”

A moment after he said that, up on the screen in stark black-and-white, four Burroughs defenders burst through the line and buried Bonds. They moved incredibly fast. Then again, everyone moves incredibly fast on the Burroughs’ game film. The projector is jammed on a high-speed setting, and the images on the screen take on a comical, Keystone Kops-look. You start expecting Charlie Chaplin to sack the quarterback.

But Dunivant said this game will be no laughing matter for Temple City. His prediction: Hart 35, Temple City 21.

HOW BOB DUNIVANT RATES HART-TEMPLE CITY

A 1-TO-10 SCALE ON TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Hart Temple City Size 8 7 Speed 9 8 Passing 9 5 Running 7 10 Pass Defense 8 8 Run Defense 8 9 Special Teams 9 8

Prediction: Hart 35, Temple City 21