HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Stubborn Burroughs Stopped by Hart, 21-10

It is getting difficult to tell which Hart High football team is going to show up on Friday nights.

Sometimes, it might be the team that rolls up 402 yards of total offense while yielding only 292.

But then, a Hart team that is penalized 6 times for 43 yards, fumbles twice and yields an interception makes an appearance.

Both teams appeared Friday night in the Indians’ Foothill League opener against Burroughs at College of the Canyons--with mixed and predictable results.

Hart quarterback Rob Westervelt completed 17 of 26 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown, and junior tailback Howard Blackwell rushed for a career-high 181 yards in 30 carries.

But Hart, in search of its sixth consecutive league title, still needed a wacky fourth-quarter touchdown drive and a controversial last-minute fumble recovery in its own end zone to upend the Indians from Burroughs, 21-10.

“I don’t know if this means we win the league,” said Hart wide receiver Cameron Smyth, who caught 4 passes for 85 yards. “But now we have the inside track.”

Said Hart Coach Dave Carson: “I’d like to say that it’s how we’d like to play minus the turnovers. We’d like to put four or five touchdowns on the board.”

Hart (4-2 overall) led, 14-3, after 3 quarters, but Burroughs (3-3) marched 77 yards in 12 plays, helped by a pass interference penalty at the Hart 4, to cut the lead to 14-10. Fullback Kevin Monaco slammed 8 yards on fourth down for the score.

With 5:38 remaining, Hart marched 80 yards in 9 plays for the insurance touchdown. The big play was a 39-yard bomb from Westervelt to Smyth, but Hart was penalized 15 yards after the whistle because of a personal foul.

The drive reached the 2 on a 27-yard pass from Westervelt to Lance Migita. On the next play, Westervelt pitched wildly to Blackwell, who scurried back to the 10, recovered the loose ball and charged in for the touchdown.

After the ensuing kickoff, Burroughs marched to the Hart 1 with 1:58 to play. On third down, Monaco, who finished with 57 yards in 13 carries, apparently dove for the score. One official signaled a touchdown. But after a brief conference, the officials ruled that Monaco had fumbled and Hart had recovered.

“I think we were ripped off,” Burroughs Coach Butch McElwee said. “It was a touchdown.”

Added McElwee: “This week it was on the line for us. If we don’t win this game, we don’t win the league.”

Hart marched 66 yards in 10 plays on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Blackwell accounted for 39 yards on the ground and Westervelt, who completed 10 of 15 for 91 yards in the first half, hit Elliot Graeber with an 11-yard swing pass for the touchdown.

Burroughs countered with a time-consuming march that stalled on the Hart 6. Tommy Phillips booted a 24-yard field goal to account for Burroughs’ only score of the half.

Burroughs penetrated Hart territory again in the second quarter, as quarterback Marco Arcipreste connected with Steve Hubble for a 27-yard gain at the Hart 33. But on the next play, Monaco fumbled and Todd Laibl recovered for Hart.

Hart then marched 68 yards in 15 plays to take a 14-3 lead on a 1-yard plunge by Jamie Carroll.