Herrington Triggered Run-Shoot of Hart Foe : Prep football: Indians’ offensive coordinator helped Los Alamitos develop rudiments of his team’s offense.

Has Hart High assistant Dean Herrington created a monster?

He will find out tonight when Hart (9-3) plays host to Los Alamitos (10-2) at 7:30 in a Southern Section Division III football semifinal at College of the Canyons.

Los Alamitos, which finished second in Orange County’s Empire League, operates an offense similar to Hart’s much-publicized run-and-shoot.

That’s because Herrington, the Indians’ offensive coordinator, tutored Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes on the finer points of the run-and-shoot during the off-season.

Barnes became infatuated with Hart’s attack after last season’s 13-10 first-round loss to the Indians. Barnes liked what he saw so much that he attended Hart’s next two games, then met with Herrington several times to learn about the offense.

“Dean came down and gave us some of their stuff,” said Barnes, whose teams were defeated by El Toro (36-6) in the ’87 Southern Conference final and by Paramount (30-20) in the ’88 Division III final. “But it’s not really their version, it’s our version. We run the ball more than they do.”

The Griffins’ quarterback is 6-foot-4 1/2 junior Tim Carey, who has thrown for 2,036 yards and 16 touchdowns and has only seven interceptions.

Hart Coach Mike Herrington said that Los Alamitos’ attack looked eerily familiar early in the season but has since forged its own identity. He said he is not concerned about his younger brother’s gesture of friendship to Barnes.

“We don’t know if Dean gave him any secrets,” Herrington said with a laugh. “But we get on Dean a little about it. We’re not really worried. Execution is the main thing.”

In a Division X semifinal, Village Christian (6-5-1) will continue its implausible playoff run against top-seeded Santa Ana Calvary Chapel (10-1). Kickoff is at 7:30 tonight at Kennedy High.

The Crusaders, after a 1-4-1 start, have won five of their past six games. Village Christian edged Camp Kilpatrick, 8-6, in a first-round game, then traveled to Silver Valley for a 26-19 quarterfinal win last week.

Village Christian, which lost in last year’s semifinal to eventual champion Montclair Prep, 34-0, again will rely on a ground-oriented offense. The Crusaders did not attempt a pass against Silver Valley.

Shouldering much of the load is 5-foot-4 tailback Chad Everett. He gained 300 yards in the two playoff games and has 1,231 yards this year despite being moved to linebacker for three games at midseason because of injuries.

Calvary Chapel’s only loss came against L. A. Baptist in the second week of the season, but since then the Eagles have won nine consecutive games. Calvary Chapel works out of the run-and-shoot, in which quarterback Jason Sharkey threw for 1,557 yards and 20 touchdowns in the regular season. Matt Kellogg rushed for 941 yards.

After a first-round bye, the Eagles defeated Trona, 27-14, in a quarterfinal game last week.

Staff writer Brian Murphy contributed to this story.