Player of the Year

Kyle Matter’s head was spinning, the result of one of the 50-plus sacks he endured this season as Hart High’s quarterback.

With a possible head injury, the coaches thought, it was important to ask a relatively easy question to see if Matter was OK.

So they asked him to recite the Pythagorean theorem.

It was a no-brainer for Matter, an A student with a 1460 SAT score and a scholarship to Stanford.

Matter answered every question, every call for Hart.

With no varsity experience, could he follow All-American quarterback Kyle Boller and maintain the school’s tradition of excellence at the position?

Definitely. In his second season as starter, he is The Times’ Valley player of the year.

Could he lead Hart to another section championship?

No. He led the Indians to two of them.

Will he be remembered as the best to ever play the position in a program known for its passing game?

Perhaps. There have been more mobile quarterbacks, ones with stronger arms, but none had the smarts or the savvy of the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Matter.

And nobody won more.

Since Matter took over the starting job in 1999, Hart has gone 26-2, including 14-0 his junior season, and won consecutive Southern Section Division III championships, giving the Indians three titles in a row.

Matter, the only Hart quarterback to win two section titles, set school career records with 7,528 yards passing and 81 touchdowns, and the season completion percentage mark of 67% set as a junior.

“The individual records are nice, but that’s not what I get into,” said Matter, who had a combined record of 44-3 on the varsity, freshman and sophomore teams. “It’s the team records that mean more to me because it means the team is winning.”

Surrounded this season by inexperienced linemen, receivers and running backs, Matter nearly duplicated his junior season, when he passed for 3,774 yards and 48 touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes.

Matter completed 65% of his passes for 3,754 yards and 33 touchdowns and was named Foothill League player of the year.

He saved one of his best performances for his final game, completing 27 of 31 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-11 rout of Mira Costa in the Division III championship game.

He completed his final 12 passes.

“He was just a great leader for us,” Coach Mike Herrington said. “With all the great Hart quarterbacks we’ve had, none ever won two [Southern Section] championships. He had such great composure and intelligence, everything you would want from your quarterback.”

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Coach of the Year: Ed Croson

School: Birmingham High

Record: 10-2

Assistants: Floyd Peterson, Jim Rose, Tyler Fenwick, Kertic Carruth, Mike Hoffmann, Isaac White, Robert Harper, Fil Popescu, Dino Dinielli, Kevin Norton, Joe Norton, Wayne Sink.