Run-and-Shoot Puts Connors With Hart’s Crack Riflemen : Football: Senior quarterback breaks Jim Bonds’ mark by passing for 399 yards in Indians’ 32-27 victory over Canyon.

Growing up in the dusty Santa Clarita Valley, Ryan Connors spent Friday afternoons in the fall daydreaming through elementary school.

The Hart game is tonight. I can’t wait!

The youngster and his buddies idolized Hart High football players through the 1980s, from Tommy Bonds to Jimmy Bonds, dreaming that someday they would follow in the footsteps of their heroes.

And on a balmy September night, as the Hart school band played John Phillip Sousa marches and the stadium at College of the Canyons filled to a buzzing capacity for another Hart-Canyon game, that time had arrived, and Connors didn’t miss his chance.

The local boy made good, throwing for a school-record 399 yards and four touchdowns as Hart beat Canyon, 32-27, Friday night in a game as exciting as any in the storied rivalry.

Connors erased the name of Jim Bonds (344 vs. Burbank in 1986) from the Hart record book for single-game passing yardage. Now, Connors is the hero some little Indian fan will idolize from afar.

What’s more, Connors set the record against the Indians’ chief rival, Canyon.

“I was really stoked. I had no idea (it was a record),” said Connors, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior. “It feels great to pass over (Jim Bonds’) record. It’s such an honor and I love that I did it against Canyon.”

In Connors’ underclassmen days at Hart, though, all was not as picture perfect as a quick-read touchdown pass. Some in the Hart program doubted Connors’ abilities when he was a freshman and a sophomore, fretting about his arm strength and his lack of height.

“I think last year he might have had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder,” Coach Mike Herrington said. “Some people said that he was not that good and that he’d never be one of the great Hart quarterbacks.”

Herrington’s brother Dean, Hart’s offensive coordinator, believed in Connors, however, and helped him enjoy a prolific junior season--2,833 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and All-Southern Section Division III honors.

Connors might eclipse those marks if his performance against Canyon is any indication. Along with the four touchdown passes and 399 yards, he completed 22 of 42 passes in the glare of the community spotlight.

“I heard a lot of bad talk,” Connors said of those early years. “They said I didn’t have the arm or the height and all sorts of junk. I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn’t the little dog they thought I was.”

He convinced one veteran football observer in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“I was real, real impressed with Connors,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said. “We brought some real pressure on him in the second half, and he made good decisions under pressure.”

Connors had fun with Hart’s new, no-huddle, run-and-shoot offense in which receivers are instructed to ignore set patterns and just run to get open. “It’s awesome,” he said.

Two plays in particular stand out in Connors’ repertoire.

With the score tied, 20-20, early in the fourth quarter, Hart faced a fourth-and-nine play at the Canyon 40-yard line. Canyon brought a heavy rush, but Connors remained calm and just at the right moment lobbed a pass over the oncoming Cowboys to tailback Deriek Charles, who made a nifty cutback and rambled 40 yards for a touchdown.

Then, with less than four minutes left and Hart trailing, 27-26, the Indians faced a third-and-five situation at the Canyon 49. Connors read a blitz and noticed wideout Davis Delmatoff with one-on-one coverage in the flat.

“I figured Dave would do his little slant and I’d hit him before he cut,” Connors said. “(The defender) dove, and that was it.” Delmatoff ran untouched for a 49-yard touchdown for what turned out to be the winning score.

Not everything was of such heroic proportions, however. Connors, who doubles as a defensive back, drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty in the second quarter for swinging at a Canyon receiver who blocked him on a running play.

Welch said he saw an official signal for an ejection of Connors. After a conference among the officials, the personal-foul penalty remained but so did Connors.

Connors claimed that he was still upset from the previous offensive series when he switched to defense. With Hart driving for a touchdown, a Connors’ pass had been intercepted in the end zone.

“The Canyon receivers always like to hit you after the whistle, and I got fed up with that,” Connors said. “Plus, the guy was talking at me and I lost my cool. I guess I was kind of scared for a little bit (about an ejection), but I now realize that I can’t do that. I’m too valuable to the team.”

Connors would like to play quarterback in college, and he has heard mixed reports from recruiters.

San Diego State, for example, has told him that he isn’t tall enough. But Nevada, Hawaii and even Miami have shown interest. Academics aren’t a problem. Connors carries a grade-point average above 3.0 and is a member of the football honor roll.

“I want to play quarterback in college,” he said. “I just really don’t know where I would fit in best yet.”

For now, he fits in just fine where he is.