Hart (10-0) Tramples Canyon, 36-0

Hart High turned its annual Santa Clarita Valley battle with archrival Canyon into its own showcase Friday night at College of the Canyons, romping to a 36-0 Foothill League victory over the Cowboys in the team’s final regular-season game.

The win gave Hart (10-0, 4-0) its second straight Foothill League title and third in four years under Coach Mike Herrington, and the first 10-0 regular season in school history.

Hart, which has shut out three opponents this season, scored the most points it has against Canyon since a 39-0 win in 1971. And the margin of victory was the greatest against a Harry Welch-coached team since the Cowboys dropped a 42-6 playoff decision to Channel Islands in 1987.

Canyon (7-3, 2-2) lost star tailback Ed Williams to a right-ankle sprain in the second quarter, and the Cowboys’ offense stalled without its leader.

Hart was led by tailback Deriek Charles, who rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries. Canyon, trying to stop the Indians’ vaunted passing attack, dropped eight players into secondary coverage and that gave Charles room to maneuver.

“You just can’t rush three guys against us, you have to put pressure on our quarterback,” said Charles, who has 994 yards rushing. “I just got the ball and kept running.”

The Cowboys held quarterback Davis Delmatoff to 108 yards passing with no touchdowns. Delmatoff entered the game with a Southern Section-leading 33 scoring passes, having thrown at least two in every game.

The Indians put the game away with 2 minutes 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 19-yard option run by Delmatoff and a successful Tim Cronk extra-point kick that made the score 29-0. Delmatoff faked a draw to Charles and ran untouched down the left sideline.

The Cowboys managed to slow most of the Indians’ offensive stars in the first half--except Charles. Charles scored two touchdowns--including a 65-yard play with about two minutes remaining in the second quarter--to help Hart to a 22-0 halftime lead.

Charles once again displayed the nifty moves that have made him one of the most dangerous runners in the area. He took the handoff from Delmatoff, broke several tackles while cutting to his right, cut back across the width of the field and outraced the Cowboys’ defense to the end zone.

“For the most part we slowed down the run and the pass. What Charles did was just a superior move by a great athlete,” Welch said.

Charles carried 11 times for 133 yards in the first half. Before Charles’ electrifying run, Canyon had allowed only 15 points, even though Hart had penetrated the Cowboys’ 10-yard line three times during the first 24 minutes.

The Cowboys could not do much against Hart. Canyon managed to drive into Hart territory twice but failed on fourth down each time.