Hart Zeros In on No. III

Jim Bonds can go home again. Too bad for him, things haven’t changed.

It’s been 14 years since Bonds, who is in his first season as coach of St. Francis High, played quarterback as a senior for Hart and was among the most successful in a long line of prolific Indian quarterbacks.

Bonds led Hart to a 13-1 record and Southern Section title in 1986, passing for 3,197 yards and 31 touchdowns before moving on to UCLA.

He can be proud that his alma mater is still on top, as evidenced by Hart’s 13-0 victory over St. Francis in a Division III semifinal on Friday night at College of the Canyons.

In his second matchup as a coach against his alma mater and former mentors Mike, Dean and Rick Herrington, Bonds came up short again.

Hart sacked John Sciarra eight times and pressured him into ineffectiveness while Kyle Matter of Hart passed for 182 yards and ran for a touchdown.

As coach at Alemany, Bonds lost a 21-13 decision to Hart and the Herringtons in 1998 in a Division III semifinal at Canyons.

“It’s definitely an emotional game for me,” Bonds said. “I don’t know if the kids really understand it.

“This is where I played.”

Hart Coach Mike Herrington was an assistant under Rick Scott when Bonds started at quarterback in his last two years.

Rick and Dean were junior varsity coaches who helped groom Bonds for the varsity job.

Dean, Hart’s offensive coordinator, started for Hart as a senior in 1980.

Tom Bonds, Jim’s brother, succeeded him as the starter, helping Hart win its first Southern Section title in 1983.

Jim Bonds took over in 1986 and led Hart to two Southern Section championship games.

“I’ve known him since he was 12,” Dean Herrington said. “Mike and Rick and I are just so proud of what he’s done. They have a class team.”

The start of the game was delayed briefly when coaches on both sidelines complained their headsets were picking up the opponents’ transmissions. Interestingly, the same situation ensued in 1998 before Alemany and Hart squared off on the same field.

Could the Herringtons be eavesdropping?

Bonds dismissed the incident as an electrical glitch. But it sure seemed Hart had St. Francis’ number.

“He’s familiar with what we do and we talk to him a lot about what we do,” Mike Herrington said. “But we’ve changed up a lot since he’s been here.”

Admittedly close, Bonds and the Herringtons cut off communication this week.

“Dean and I talk every week about who we play and what we’re doing,” Bonds said. “But we didn’t speak all week. It’s too hard and we’re too close. If there was a fourth Herrington brother, it would be me.”

Someday, perhaps, Bonds will be the one claiming victory against his former mentors.

“He’s been a head coach now, what, four or five years?” Mike Herrington said. “One of these days, he’s gonna knock us off. It’s gonna come.”

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Southern Section Semifinals Results

Division III

Hart: 13

St. Francis: 0

Mira Costa: 41

Notre Dame: (ot) 38

Division IV

Arroyo Grande: 33

Agoura: 30

Division XII

Paraclete: 22

Kern Valley: 6