Hart’s Buzz-Saw Attack Fells Thousand Oaks

The final score and the way it performed begs the question: Did Thousand Oaks really want to play this game?

Hart High beat Thousand Oaks, 42-14, Thursday night at Canyon High, while the Lancers dropped several passes, missed several tackles and finished themselves off with two third-quarter fumbles.

Indian quarterback Steve McKeon passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Ted Iacenda, who rushed for 85 yards, caught five passes for another 103 and scored three touchdowns.

“The way I think about it is we didn’t play up to our level,” said Thousand Oaks safety Bill Sperry, who twice failed to stop Iacenda on scoring plays. “We certainly need to play at a higher level.”

Hart (2-0) barely outgained the Lancers (0-2) in total offense, as Thousand Oaks--led by quarterback Scott McEwan (nine of 18 for 121 yards) and running back Mike Thomas (11 carries, 101 yards) moved the ball in spurts.

But the Indian offense was its usually dazzling self. On Hart’s fourth play from scrimmage, McKeon threw a bullet to Domenic Delillio for 60-yard touchdown play.

“I was thinking, ‘I got to catch this,’ ” said Delillio, a transfer from Monroe playing his first game for the Indians. “I didn’t have to slow down. I didn’t have to accelerate. It was right there for me.”

Hart has found a new weapon in the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Delillio, who had five catches for 93 yards and said, “I’m just happy to be with the program.”

Iacenda caught a 32-yard pass from McKeon one-handed to make it 14-0 in the first quarter.

A 47-yard run by J.B. Nelson--who had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter--made it 21-0 at halftime.

Hart raised the count to 35-0 when two third-quarter fumbles by Thousand Oaks turned into Iacenda’s seventh and eighth touchdowns of the season--a 45-yard run and a 39-yard score on a shovel pass from McKeon.

The Lancers’ fourth-quarter touchdowns, a 30-yard run by Brandon Jackson and a two-yard run by Chris McKearn, came against Hart’s second string.