It’s a Matter of Fact: 489 Yards in Air

On a night quarterback Kyle Matter of Hart High obliterated the school single-game passing record with 489 yards, it was receiver Garrett Fuller who created the greatest buzz.

Running as if he were powered by a jet engine, Fuller twice raced 82 yards for touchdowns on short passes and returned an interception 49 yards for another score as Hart (6-0) opened Foothill League play with a 43-3 rout of Saugus Friday night at College of the Canyons.

Matter, a 6-foot-3 junior taking over for All-American Kyle Boller, broke the school record of 480 yards set by Ryan Connors in 1991. He completed 27 of 42 passes and threw five touchdown passes.

“There have been so many great quarterbacks at Hart and to have my name up with them is great,” Matter said.

But even Matter admitted it was his receivers who did most of the work.

Fuller, the fastest player on Hart’s team, caught seven passes for 227 yards. Jared Bazar caught nine passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns. “The receivers were awesome,” Matter said.

And no one was better than Fuller, who also starred at strong safety. He was almost a blur on the field running away from the Saugus defenders.

Was it Saugus players who looked slow or Fuller who looked fast?

“I just run, man,” he said. “I really had some good blocking on those runs.”

The individual accomplishments of Matter and Fuller overshadowed another tremendous performance by Hart’s defense.

Quarterback David Parker of Saugus came in as one of the region’s most accurate and effective passers, having connected on 63% of his attempts. But he missed on eight consecutive passes at one point in the first half and was only five of 18 for 31 yards in the opening two quarters.

In the game, he completed 10 of 29 passes for 68 yards with two interceptions.

It was an example of what can happen when a quarterback must deal with a Hart defense that doesn’t miss tackles, rushes relentlessly and recovers quickly.

Saugus’ rushing attack was nonexistent. The best offensive play for the Centurions was a 76-yard kickoff return by Brett Draimin that led to a 30-yard field goal by Nathan Steele in the first quarter.

Hart’s defense is quick and has several future NCAA Division I recruits besides UCLA-bound linebacker Patrick Norton. Take sophomore defensive end Chris Frome, who is 6-5 and 230 pounds. Three times he recorded tackles for losses.

And there’s Fuller, who moved to Newhall three years ago when his father, Gary, became principal at Hart. At one point, Fuller was so bad covering receivers at cornerback that defensive coordinator Rick Herrington vowed to never play him in the secondary. But a switch to strong safety and continued improvement has made Fuller a standout on both sides of the ball.

Hart opened a 21-3 halftime lead in winning its 39th league game in a row.

Matter rolled up big numbers in the first half, passing for 340 yards and three touchdowns. But his receivers deserved most of the credit.

On Bazar’s 21-yard touchdown reception in the left corner of the end zone, he extended himself fully to make the catch.

On Fuller’s pair of 82-yard touchdown receptions, he caught short passes and simply turned on the speed to outrun the Saugus defenders.

One of the few blunders for the Indians was a botched fumblerooskie play. The ball was placed on the turf for a Hart linemen to pick it up. But nobody fooled Brian Kalb of Saugus, who fell on the ball.

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DAVID PARKER vs. KYLE MATTER

When Parker and Matter of Hart met Friday night it matched tow of the region’s top quarterbacks. A closer look:

Attempts

Parker: 29

Matter: 42

Completions

Parker: 10

Matter: 27

Yards

Parker: 68

Matter: 489

Touchdowns

Parker: 0

Matter: 5

Interceptions

Parker: 2

Matter: 1