Hart Tries Not to Trip on Veer : Football: Indians put 6-0 record on the line in nonleague game against Palm Springs.

So this is what it is like to play for the No. 1 team in the Valley. On Friday night you beat rival Canyon, 42-19, and on Monday you spend three hours staring at the game film and get your ears bent by dissatisfied coaches.

Fellas, this is not good enough.

“That’s the longest film session we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Rick Herrington, Hart’s defensive coordinator the past eight seasons.

“We probably played our worst defensive game of the year. We had guys out of position, guys back on their heels waiting, instead of going after people.”

The Herringtons--Rick and brothers Mike (head coach) and Dean (offensive coordinator)--felt the Indians needed a wake-up call before tonight’s nonleague game at Palm Springs (3-3).

“The guys are sometimes too businesslike,” Rick Herrington said. “I wish they’d get a little more excited for a game.”

The Indians (6-0), ranked No. 1 in The Times’ Valley poll, have the area’s second-best offense in yardage per game (411.3) and a defense that alarmingly ranks seventh worst, yielding 319.7 yards per outing.

“We must have re-run every play 10 or 15 times,” Rick Herrington said. “But I think we got it in their brains that they can win by a big margin and still not play well.”

Palm Springs Coach Chris Calderwood, however, is counting on his veer-option attack to make Hart play poorly and lose.

Palm Springs, also nicknamed the Indians, scored as many points as Hart last week in a 42-21 victory over Central Union of El Centro.

Calderwood said Palm Springs has some advantages.

“We might surprise these guys,” he said. “They’ve got to drive 3 1/2 hours. I think we’re faster than they are. Our strength is that our skill guys are real good. We have a chance to make a name for ourselves.”

Calderwood’s only concern is that Hart’s big offensive line might dominate, allowing quarterback Steve McKeon (67 of 107 for 1,196 yards and 11 touchdowns) and running back Ted Iacenda (629 yards rushing, 355 receiving, 18 touchdowns) to dictate the outcome.

“I’m confident in the fact we’ll move the ball on them,” he said. “The concern is if we can stop them.”

Rick Herrington could be more concerned about stopping Palm Springs, where quarterback Bishop Miller has passed for nearly 300 yards and rushed for 250 in two games since switching from running back.

Miller, filling in for injured quarterback John Dreisbach, rushed for four touchdowns last week. Titus Holland, Miller’s replacement at tailback, rushed for 100 yards and fullback Rommel Lopez had 46.

“(Miller is) a real good athlete,” Herrington said. “But it looks like a lot of what they run is predetermined. In the past, we’ve been pretty good against the option. The kids usually do a pretty good job on reads. They don’t leave guys open.”

Palm Springs hopes to catch Hart flat-footed on play-action passes. That doesn’t concern Herrington, who said his team only has trouble with quarterbacks like Canyon’s Ahjeron Palmer (who rushed for 134 yards in nine carries last week) who run bootleg plays out of pro sets.

Palm Springs won’t disguise the option, but watch out anyway, Calderwood warned.

“We’ve just started to get into our rhythm,” he said. “If we didn’t turn the ball over three times inside the 20 and give Indio 20 points two weeks ago, we’d be 4-2.”

*

Harvard-Westlake High will defend its share of first place in the Camino Real League today when the Wolverines play host to Verbum Dei at 1:30.

Harvard (4-1-1), which moved from the Mission League last season, defeated Cantwell Sacred Heart, 31-6, in last week’s league opener. Verbum Dei (5-1), which defeated Burbank, 15-14, last week in a nonleague game, is playing its league opener.

Senior tailback Abed Abusaleh has carried the load in Harvard’s run-oriented attack. Abusaleh has rushed for 385 yards and five touchdowns in 75 carries but has been nursing a bruised right shoulder since the first week of the season.

Abusaleh rushed for two touchdowns against Cantwell but spent the fourth quarter on the bench with his shoulder wrapped in ice.

Abusaleh is expected to play. Derek Lemkin has passed for 884 yards and 11 touchdowns.