Hart Sends Message in 45-14 Rout

Believing it has a reputation in Southern Section football circles as being a “soft” team, Hart High wanted to send a resounding message to the contrary in the first round of the Division II playoffs Friday.

That information was delivered--loudly.

With quarterback Davis Delmatoff and tailback Deriek Charles in the role of messengers, the Indians routed overmatched Downey, 45-14, at College of the Canyons.

“We wanted to serve notice that we are one of the elite teams in (the playoffs),” said Delmatoff, who completed 23 of 31 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

“We needed to win our first game big to set the tone. Now those other teams will have to start thinking about Hart.”

They probably were already.

The Indians, who won the Foothill League, improved to 11-0. Hart will play Crescenta Valley (10-1), a 25-9 winner over Marina in a first-round game, next Friday in the quarterfinals. A coin flip today will determine the site of that game.

Downey ends the season, 7-3. The Vikings finished third in the San Gabriel Valley League during the regular season.

Charles helped send the Vikings home disappointed by rushing for 84 yards and scoring four touchdowns in the first half.

Hart Coach Mike Herrington removed his starters in the third quarter.

“A lot of the other teams don’t know about what we can do, they just think we throw the ball,” said Charles, who scored 22 touchdowns this season. “All you ever hear is about you great the Orange County teams are, but we are good, too.

“I think we showed Downey we’re not soft.”

The Hart defense controlled Downey, limiting quarterback Johnny Macon to 77 yards passing. Macon scored touchdowns on runs of 10 and seven yards, respectively.

Delmatoff, who entered the game with a state-leading 33 touchdown passes, needs three more to tie Ryan Connors (1991) and Jim Bonds (1986) for the school record.

“This is only one win, but we started the way we wanted to,” Delmatoff said. “We came out quick, and now we have to keep it up.”

The outcome was decided shortly after the Vikings stepped off their bus. Hart dominated the game’s first 24 minutes, taking a 35-6 halftime lead.

Delmatoff was sharp throughout the first half, completing 18 of 21 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

“They had a lot of great athletes in their secondary; they broke to the ball real well,” Delmatoff said. “But you can tell they haven’t faced a lot of passing teams this season. They left guys open over the middle all game.”

Hart scored touchdowns on all five of its first-half possessions. The Indians outgained the Vikings, 342 net yards to 139, in the half and accumulated 20 first downs to Downey’s seven.

After a Downey punt on the game’s opening possession, Charles started Hart’s scoring spree with a nifty 42-yard touchdown run. He had two other first-half touchdown runs of one yard each and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Delmatoff.

Downey scored on a 10-yard run by Macon with one minute 14 seconds left before halftime, but the Indians blocked the Vikings’ point-after attempt. Hart then drove 78 yards in 46 seconds to close the half’s scoring, the last yard coming on run by Charles.