The Newhall Pass

Here are the requirements for any teenager who aspires to be a Hart High quarterback:

* You need a powerful sun block lotion. You’ll play a minimum of 50 summer passing league games, subjecting yourself to scorching heat and rays of sunlight more suited for a desert tortoise.

* You need 20-20 vision. With four receivers in the pass pattern on each play, you must be able to spot multiple targets, not to mention linemen, linebackers and defensive backs looking to tear your helmet off.

* You need nerves of steel. Just like an F-16 fighter pilot waiting until the last second to bail out of a damaged aircraft, your courage and toughness will be tested by how long you are able to stay in the pocket without panicking as rushers close in.

* You must enjoy watching videos. You’ll study at least five hours of tape each week, qualifying you to become football’s version of Siskel and Ebert.

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For 13 consecutive years, Hart has produced an All-Southern Section quarterback. Six times the quarterback has led the region in passing. No quarterback has passed for fewer than 2,000 yards in a season.

“It’s very amazing,” Valley College Coach Gary Barlow said of the Indians’ quarterback success. “They get their kids when they’re freshmen and start teaching the system. It’s a good case study for other high school coaches in the area to look at.”

In 13 of the last 14 seasons, a Herrington brother has been involved with Hart’s varsity program. Only in 1988, when the three Herrington brothers left for a year in exile at Bellflower High, were they not involved in the Indians’ program. And they developed an All-Southern Section quarterback at Bellflower.

Mike Herrington, Hart’s head coach since 1989, turned the offense over to brother Dean, a former Hart quarterback who fell in love with the run-and-shoot passing attack. The other brother, Rick, runs the defense.

Add line coach Dan Houghton and receiver coach Mike Halcovich, and the brains behind Hart’s success are clear.

“They are so sophisticated I wouldn’t know what they are doing,” said Carl Sweet, who coached Hart from 1980-83 and introduced Dean to the passing game. “Dean always liked to throw the ball. I told Dean that I wanted to throw every down in a game and he was going to hold me to it and I couldn’t do it.”

When Sweet left for El Dorado High in Orange County, Rick Scott came in and added more passing to the offense. Three times his quarterbacks ranked No. 1 in the region in passing, including Jim Bonds, who led Hart to a Southern Section championship in 1986.

Scott left for Buena High in 1988 and was replaced for one season by Dave Carson, former Burbank coach. Mike Herrington took over and let Dean revolutionize Hart’s passing attack in the 1990s.

“There have been times I wanted to run the ball, but it’s his baby,” Mike said.

The change to a four-receiver attack had its genesis in 1984, when Dean and Bonds attended a United States Football League game between the L.A. Express and Houston Gamblers.

Run-and-shoot expert Mouse Davis was coaching with the Gamblers.

“Dean’s eyes were wide open like this is the greatest thing he’s seen,” Bonds said.

Dean started experimenting with the run-and-shoot on Hart’s sophomore team. When he became Hart’s offensive coordinator in 1989, the Indians used a tight end and a two-back I-formation. Not until Hart started the 1990 season with consecutive losses and scored only 10 points did the Herringtons commit to run-and-shoot.

“We were worried it would be too much,” Dean said. “Once we went 0-2, we said, ‘Forget it. We’re going to it.’ ”

A year later, Ryan Connors became the first quarterback in Southern Section history to pass for more than 4,000 yards.

The Hart blitzkrieg had begun.

“I don’t know if it’s the best [offense] for college or the pros, but in high school, year in and year out, I think it’s easier to have four wide receivers,” Dean said.

Bonds, in his second season as coach at Alemany, has installed a similar passing scheme with the hope of turning around a program that hasn’t made a playoff appearance this decade.

He doesn’t expect Alemany to equal Hart immediately.

“It’s been 13 years in development,” Bonds said of Hart.

Very few of Hart’s quarterbacks have gone on to become successful in college. On Saturday against Fresno State, David Neill of Nevada willbecome the first former Hart quarterback to start an NCAA Division I-A game since Bonds started for UCLA in 1990.

It is an indication that the run-and-shoot system is more important than the quarterback. Hart has used quarterbacks as small as 5 feet 8 and as tall as 6-6. Some have been slow, others fast. Some have had strong arms, others average.

“‘The main thing for us is we need a guy back there who’s tough and not worried about getting hit,” Dean said. “He’s got so many decisions to make. If he’s worried about the pass rush, he won’t be able to look down field.”

Said Neill: “It’s an awesome system. Every play is designed to find a weakness. It takes a lot of repetition.”

Going into a game Thursday against Sylmar at College of the Canyons, Hart fans are wondering if 6-3 senior Kyle Boller might be the best quarterback of all.

In two games, he has passed for 821 yards and eight touchdowns.

“He’s got the total package,” Dean said.

There are quarterbacks lined up through 2001. Next season, junior Travis Nicol, Boller’s backup, figures to battle 6-2 sophomore Kyle Matter for the varsity job. On the freshman team are 6-foot Matt Moore and 5-6 Jimmy Neill, David’s brother.

All are home-grown products. Only once over the last 13 years has a transfer student won the starting job.

“They just have to wait their turn,” Dean said.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.

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LUCKY 13

Hart High has produced 13 consecutive years of All-Southern Section quarterbacks:

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Year QB PA PC Int. Yds. TDs. 1997 David Neill 339 188 17 3,053 26 1996 Travis Carroll 294 196 9 2,780 27 1995 Steve McKeon 216 122 7 2,387 24 1994 Steve McKeon 259 160 11 2,925 30 1993 Mike Kocicka 277 165 10 2,966 32 1992 Davis Delmatoff 327 192 11 3,196 36 1991 Ryan Connors 471 290 16 4,144 39 1990 Ryan Connors 345 187 11 2,825 24 1989 Rob Westervelt 243 139 11 2,131 24 1988 Rob Westervelt 294 176 11 2,163 21 1987 Darren Renfro 343 219 6 2,808 26 1986 Jim Bonds 322 201 10 3,153 39 1985 Jim Bonds 345 182 9 2,439 14

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