Armed and Dangerous

During the 14 weeks of his senior football season, Kyle Boller of Hart High transformed from a quarterback with potential to one who might be the best the Valley region has produced since John Elway.

He completed 65% of his passes and had 59 touchdowns with only three interceptions. Boller finished with a state-record 4,841 yards passing.

In his final high school game, he intercepted a pass on the five-yard line with 21 seconds left to preserve Hart’s 17-14 victory over St. Paul in the Southern Section Division III champions1751740448 Few high school players have enjoyed more extraordinary seasons than the one put together by Boller, The Times’ Valley player of the year.

“He created a lot of excitement in these parts,” Coach Mike Herrington of Hart said. “People were abuzz with the way he threw the ball. There were a lot of people just coming to the game1931506799 More than 10,000 people filled the stadium at College of the Canyons to watch the Indians’ final game. Boller passed for a season-low 164 yards, but it hardly mattered. His performance week543254132 “We knew he was going to be a good one and we were hoping he’d be a great one,” Herrington said. “He turned out better than I thought.”

The 6-foot-3 Boller left many indelible impressions. There were 362 yards passing and a near-miraculous fourth-quarter comeback against Loyola. There were 475 yards passing and seven touchd1870098035were 15 consecutive completions against St. Francis.

Most of all, there were those bullet-like spirals that generated so much velocity that Boller’s receivers wisely used gloves to help ease the sting of impact.

Boller didn’t miss a beat, almost reaching 5,000 yards passing despite losing Jerry Owens, Hart’s best receiver, to a broken leg in the final regular-season game.

Off the field, Boller was tested by intense media interest and an onslaught of new fans. But he never wavered from his humble personality.

“I’m just hoping 10 years from now he still remembers us little guys at Hart High,” Herrington said. “He’s taken all the success he’s had and hasn’t changed a bit. He’s so gracious to people. He’s just a nice kid.”

That and a heck of a football player.