It Was a Night to Forget, but McKeon and Iacenda Can’t : Hart Pair Haunted by Miscues in Championship-Game Setback

Quarterback Steve McKeon of Hart High has spent the past four days trying to put a bitter defeat into perspective, but the haunting persists.

“It’s a nightmare that you want to wake up from,” he said this week. “I want to wake up from it and have it be Thursday evening and have Friday be game day.”

But this is a living nightmare for McKeon, a junior who is the area’s top quarterback. Sharing that nightmare is junior running back Ted Iacenda, who scored an area-record 41 touchdowns this season.

McKeon threw three interceptions and Iacenda lost two fumbles in the first half as Hart, 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in The Times’ area poll before Friday, was humbled, 36-15, by Antelope Valley in the Southern Section Division II championship game in front of 8,000 at College of the Canyons.

Thanks to miscues by McKeon and Iacenda, the Antelopes (11-2) built a 29-0 lead at halftime and the Indians’ hopes for a third section title and the first perfect record in school history were gone.

McKeon, who entered the game with only seven interceptions in more than 200 passes, had a seven-game stretch earlier this season in which he threw no interceptions. Iacenda had one fumble in 13 games.

“I’m just shocked to see us go out in this fashion,” McKeon said.

Hart players and coaches met for the first time since the game on Tuesday to look at game film. By then, McKeon and Iacenda had drawn their own conclusions for the Hart failure. “We panicked,” Iacenda said. “They kept scoring and we kept making mistakes. We got apprehensive and our confidence went down.”

McKeon, who completed 61% of his passes this season for 2,925 yards and 30 touchdowns, had triggered an offense that scored 51 and 55 points the previous two weeks. But against Antelope Valley, Hart’s massive offensive linemen, who average 6-foot-4, 266 pounds, provided little protection against the quicker Antelope Valley defense when McKeon was forced to throw on nearly every down because of the early deficit. He was sacked seven times.

McKeon wanted to throw deep, but a three-deep zone by the Antelopes prevented it. When he scrambled to avoid the rush, he threw a number of wobblers.

“I had to heave it every time we had to go deep,” he said. “Who can’t intercept a 50-yard duck?”

McKeon and Iacenda said they still believed they could win had they scored in the first half but the Indians squandered two chances in the final minutes.

Hart drove to the Antelope Valley 47-yard line, but on first down Iacenda was dropped for a two-yard loss. On the next play, McKeon seemed to get impatient and threw deep but his pass was intercepted.

Later, the Indians had a first down on the Antelope Valley 34-yard line but McKeon was sacked as time ran out in the half.

“A lot of people went into halftime really down, because they thought it was over,” Iacenda said. “Twenty-nine points is nothing in our (run-and-shoot) offense. Our coaches were telling us to relax. How many times have we scored 29 points in less than a half?”

Hart scored two touchdowns in the second half to narrow the margin to 29-15. But Antelope Valley put the game out of reach by marching 80 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“It’s still upsetting,” Iacenda said. “I still get sick to my stomach when I think about it.”

Iacenda suffered from a bad cold throughout the week. Because section rules require a player to attend school on game day to be eligible to play, Iacenda spent most of Friday sleeping in the nurse’s office.

But a fever and fatigue weren’t factors in the game, he said.

“I went to COC ready to play football,” he said. “The sickness did not make me fumble twice or miss my blocks.”

So where does Hart go from here?

Back to the championship game with a lesson learned, Iacenda said. It might happen. With 20 seniors on a roster of 49, Hart was a fairly young team. The biggest losses will be receivers Chris McCabe, Domenic DeLillio and Jeremy Seipel, and four big offensive linemen.

“I’m never going to forget (this defeat),” Iacenda said. “I am going to use it, hopefully, to my advantage next year. I am not going to let (my teammates) forget about it. We’re going to learn from our mistakes. This is not going to happen again.”