Hart’s Sudden Demise Puzzles Scott

From the most satisfying victory to the most shocking defeat, Rick Scott’s Hart Indians took the shortest route.

After opening the season with an emotionally charged 41-21 win over archrival Canyon and Scott’s nemesis, Harry Welch, Hart was still sky-high for three quarters against Mission Viejo on Saturday night. But soon after they soared to a 14-7 lead, the Indians were shot down in flames.

Mission Viejo scored 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to stun the Indians with a 31-14 win that sobered Scott’s happy warriors.

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Scott, whose team had a 14-game winning streak snapped. “I don’t know if it was the big win over Canyon or what. It’s hard to put your finger on that type of thing.”

Scott, however, pointed a few fingers. One was to a key injury to tailback Craig Whitten, who sat out the second half and also will miss Thursday night’s game against Arroyo.

“He hurt his ankle in practice and he just couldn’t go too long,” Scott said. “That hurt us. We had no threat of a running game in the second half.”

Scott also pointed to penalties.

“We had 12 for 147 yards,” he said, “including four major 15-yarders that included loss of down.”

When the momentum changed, all Scott thought about was executing a hasty retreat.

“When it all started going downhill, I just wanted to get the game over with,” Scott said. “It was ‘Come on, clock.’ ”

Many paths to points: After two games, all Alemany’s Chris Lobos needs is a safety to have scored every way possible. Lobos, a running back and defensive back, has scored on a touchdown, field goal, two-point conversion and an extra point. He has scored 15 points, 11th in the Valley area.

Box office bonanza: From a purist’s standpoint, Westlake’s game with Lompoc on Friday was as good as it gets. There was slam-bang action and edge-of-your-seat suspense. As far as happy endings for Westlake, however, the cavalry never came.

“If you were a paying customer who didn’t care who won the game, you’d have to love what you saw,” Westlake Coach George Contreras said. “It was a great game. The way it ended, well. . . .”

Westlake’s 28-22 loss had all the right elements, but the last scene could have used a rewrite--Westlake’s last-second victory didn’t quite come to pass.

Trailing, 28-15, Westlake scored on a 41-yard pass from Bob Grandpre to Garret Messner with 4:40 left to close to within 28-22. Two plays after Lompoc took possession on the kickoff, Westlake linebacker Alan Waldrop picked off a pass and returned it to the 50-yard line.

Westlake appeared poised to steal the scene--and the game.

“We had about three minutes left,” Contreras said. “We were in a great position. We had been moving the ball, had all our timeouts left--it definitely wasn’t a panic situation.”

The Warriors drove to the Lompoc three, and two running plays moved Westlake to the one. On third down, with under a minute left, a keeper by Grandpre came up inches short.

With 19 seconds remaining, Contreras called for an inside handoff--but it never came off. Grandpre mishandled the snap from center Paul Williams and Lompoc recovered.

Contreras was in no hurry to review the film.

“I haven’t had the courage to look at the tape to see if the blocking was there or if the play would have even worked,” Contreras said Saturday afternoon. “I’ve been second-guessing myself for the call.

“It made for a real quiet trip on the way back.”

Carpinteria couldn’t move the ball against Calabasas in the first half Friday, so Warrior Coach Lou Panizzon dusted off an old standby to start the second half.

It turned out to be the call that buried Calabasas.

Carpinteria’s Coley Candaele fielded the second-half kickoff on the 5-yard line and took the ball up the middle of the field. He handed to Emilio Handall on a reverse, and Handall streaked to the left sideline and up the field.

One more block, by Candaele at the Calabasas 25, ushered Handall into the end zone. The Warriors won, 7-6, despite having only six first downs.

“They ran it real well,” Calabasas Coach Larry Edwards said. “And our coverage broke down a little. We had three chances to tackle him downfield, but we missed him. Some of our kids looked like they were joined at the hip.”

Carpinteria has run the reverse three times in the past two years, and each has resulted in a touchdown. The first two came in 1986 against St. Bonaventure and Santa Ynez.

“We thought their coverage indicated they weren’t covering the field on the kickoffs,” Panizzon said. “We thought it would work.”

Calabasas, by contrast, fumbled the opening kickoff for the second straight week. In the Coyotes’ opener, Moorpark recovered the fumble on the 25-yard line. One week later, Calabasas turned the ball over on the 22.

The Coyotes also have fumbled on both opening drives. On the bright side, the Coyotes have not allowed a point after any of the fumbles.

“Yeah,” said Edwards, whose team has six fumbles in two games. “We’re setting a pattern. We stress consistency, and that seems to be coming along fine.”

Staff writers Steve Elling and Tim Brown contributed to this notebook.