Saugus Falls Behind Posthaste in 49-7 Rout

Dick Flaherty was running behind schedule most of Friday night.

The Saugus High coach brought his football team out to the College of the Canyons field just six minutes before kickoff. No stretching. No warmups. Not much of anything.

The Centurions just ran onto the field then took a 49-7 nonleague beating by Hart.

Afterward, Flaherty appeared just as rushed when asked to comment on the game.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said when approached by reporters, then trotted toward the locker room.

The Centurions might, however, find time this week to work a little on their special teams, because in that aspect of the game Saugus failed miserably.

The Indians converted four crucial special-teams miscues into four touchdowns and a 28-0 lead.

“The bottom line was that we got the big plays off their mistakes,” an unhurried Hart Coach Mike Herrington said. “I guess that’s good. But I was a little disappointed because we didn’t get our offense rolling as far as driving the ball.”

Still, the Indians (2-2) had opportunities to gain 366 yards.

The Saugus collapse began late in the first quarter when Hart’s Tucker Setterberg led a flood of Indians into the Centurion backfield and blocked Jeff Hickman’s punt deep in Saugus territory.

Brad Goeres recovered at the eight-yard line and Ryan Connors scored two plays later when he beat defensive back Kevin Neidigh to the outside and sprinted in on a five-yard bootleg.

On the Indians’ next drive, which had stalled at their own 21, Saugus (1-3) committed another blunder.

Brian Allen clobbered Hart punter Doug Distaso. The 15-yard roughing-the-kicker penalty turned fourth and 14 into an Indian first down at the 36.

This time, it took Hart five plays to make the Centurions pay.

Scott Blanchard capped the 92-yard drive with an 11-yard run.

It only got worse.

Hart’s Jon Bodemer returned the second half kickoff 89 yards for a score and a 21-0 advantage.

On their next drive, the Indians used a fake punt to continue a scoring drive. Punter Distaso passed 19 yards to Damon Mori for the first down. Four plays later, Connors connected with Brian Bernier for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Connors passed for 126 yards and a touchdown. He also carried 10 times for 74 yards. Blanchard added nine carries for 89 yards and a pair of 11-yard touchdown runs.