Burroughs, Barrett Fire Blanks in Duel With Hart, Renfro

It was supposed to be a high-scoring game. Not quite. It was supposed to be close. Not even.

It was supposed to be a shoot-out between two of the top quarterbacks in the Valley area. Don’t make Darren Renfro laugh.

Renfro, Hart High’s quarterback, outpassed and outplayed Jeff Barrett, his left-handed counterpart from Burroughs, by completing 15 of 21 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown as Hart thumped Burroughs, 19-0, Friday night at Burroughs.

“No one can stop our offense,” Renfro said. “We mix it up pretty good.”

Burroughs (6-1, 1-1) certainly couldn’t. Coach Butch McElwee’s team entered the game with the second-ranked defense among Valley-area Southern Section teams. But Renfro, scrambling away from defenders and nullifying blitzes with his quick release, picked apart the Indians from Burroughs as the Indians from Hart rolled up 386 yards of total offense.

“I wouldn’t trade my quarterback for anyone,” Hart Coach Rick Scott said.

The game did make good on one pregame promise. It was supposed to determine which team was likely to become Foothill League champion. Hart (6-1, 2-0) settled the issue as though it never existed.

Hart’s defense, ranked last among Valley-area Southern Section teams, stifled Burroughs’ No. 4-ranked offense, limiting it to just 76 total yards. Barrett was held to 10 completions in 23 attempts for 82 yards with 1 interception.

Burroughs had minus-six yards rushing, ran only 12 plays and didn’t have a first down in the second half. Barrett led his team no farther than the Hart 36. “Hart is a damn good team,” McElwee said. “Their defense is stronger than we expected.”

Said Scott: “I knew we were going to win. They hadn’t played anybody but the Sisters of the Poor. We just shut up and played.”

Hart took a 7-0 lead when Renfro hit Joe DeSchryver with a 14-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter. On third and 11, Renfro backpedaled before unleashing a bullet. DeSchryver, who caught five passes for 100 yards, made a leaping grab while in the grasp of defensive back Sean Perry.

Hart took a 9-0 lead on the next play from scrimmage. Trying to set up a screen pass, Barrett was chased from his own 20 into the end zone by tackle Keith Kershaw. Kershaw pulled Barrett to the ground by his jersey for a safety.

Two plays after Burroughs’ free kick, tailback Craig Whitten, who rushed for a game-high 125 yards on 23 carries, broke off tackle for a 56-yard touchdown run, giving Hart a 16-0 lead.

Burroughs countered by mounting its only drive of the half. Barrett passed 15 yards to Kevin Strasser and a pass interference penalty gave Burroughs a first down at Hart’s 36.

The drive was snuffed, however, when a Barrett pass over the middle was intercepted by linebacker Jeff Holden.

Hart concluded the scoring on a 23-yard field goal by Jim Harper on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Hart held Burroughs to 52 total yards in the first half, while Renfro completed 9 of his first 12 passes for 142 yards.

Hart punched deep into Burroughs territory on its first two possessions without scoring. Whitten rushed for 19 yards and DeSchryver made a one-handed grab for a 19-yard gain to put the Indians on Burroughs’ 10. The drive was stopped when Whitten fumbled at the one.

Hart’s second drive, which was aided by a 32-yard pass over the middle from Renfro to Kevin Keough, died when the left side of Burroughs’ defense stacked up Whitten on fourth down at the 7.