Hart Is Still the Boss, 35-7

Another season, another Foothill League championship for the Hart High football team, six in a row to be exact.

And more heartache for Saugus, which was beaten, 35-7, by the Indians in front of 7,500 Friday night at College of the Canyons.

Hart (8-2, 5-0 in league) has beaten Saugus five years in a row by an average score of 37-9, with most of those games holding championship promise.

Scott Collins caught seven passes for 131 yards, including two of 29 yards and two of 23 yards that helped Hart take a 21-7 halftime lead.

Saugus (5-5, 3-2) was hoping not to give up any big plays for touchdowns but all hopes of that ended when Jerry Owens returned the opening kickoff 90 yards on a trick play.

Running a play the coaches call “Starburst,” six Hart players momentarily huddled around Brian Pritchett, who fielded the kick at the 10-yard line.

Suddenly, the players sprinted in six different directions. Owen headed straight up field, cut to the sideline at the 40 and scored untouched to give the Indians a 7-0 lead 10 seconds into the game.

Hart quarterback Travis Carroll, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 216 yards, threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Brian Pritchett later in the quarter to make it 14-0.

Saugus cut the lead to 14-7 on a one-yard run by Mark Pecaro (19 carries for 48 yards), but a fumble by Saugus quarterback Chris Kobe, who was 11 of 20 for 175 yards, led to a one-yard scoring run by Hart’s Todd Hourigan 1 minute 14 seconds before halftime to make it 21-7.

Hourigan added another one-yard plunge and Chris Wright (92 yards rushing) added a two-yard run to cap the scoring.