Hart’s Winning Streak Comes to Devilish End

The third-longest unbeaten streak in California high school football, which wowed Newhall Hart High fans and countless others throughout the Southland for more than two years, has perished after a bout with the Mission Viejo Diablos’ defense. It was 35 games long.

The streak included two Southern Section Division III titles and three Foothill League championships. The Indians’ streak included a tie with Division I champion Los Alamitos to open the season and victories over City Section champion Lake Balboa Birmingham and Division IV champion Ventura St. Bonaventure.

Only Concord De La Salle, owner of a national-record 138-game winning streak, and Los Gatos, 38-0-1 in the last three seasons, had longer unbeaten streaks before Hart’s run ended Saturday at Edison Field during a 10-6 loss to Mission Viejo in the Division II championship.

Hart’s streak is survived by Coach Mike Herrington and 22 underclassmen, including quarterback Sean Norton and receivers Ryan Wolfe and Kevin Ciccone.

Mission Viejo, winner of 28 consecutive games, has assumed Hart’s spot in third place. And Diablo Coach Bob Johnson won’t settle for less than first.

“We want De La Salle next year!” Johnson exclaimed Saturday as he walked off Edison Field after his team’s second consecutive section title.

Only one problem, coach.

De La Salle would be booked through 2004 if Spartan Athletic Director Terry Eidson can solidify one game against a team from Ohio during the 2004 season.

“The good teams coming up always want to play you,” Eidson said by phone Sunday. “Usually, it’s too late. I set my schedule at least two years in advance.”

Eidson is certainly familiar with Mission Viejo. His niece, Ericka Gil, is a Diablo cheerleader who last year dated a lineman from the team. Eidson, De La Salle’s defensive coordinator, watched film of Mission Viejo last season while preparing for a game against Santa Ana Mater Dei.

There’s little doubt De La Salle-Mission Viejo would be a hot ticket -- in 2005.

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With its 41-14 dismantling of Mater Dei in the Division I title game, Los Alamitos could also lay claim to the Serra League title.

The Griffins finished 4-0 against teams from the Serra League, with victories over Bellflower St. John Bosco, La Puente Bishop Amat, Los Angeles Loyola and the Monarchs.

St. John Bosco, the official Serra League champion, finished 5-1 against league teams after suffering a 38-8 loss to Loyola during a rematch in the quarterfinals.

Los Alamitos pulled off a similar feat in 1993 when it won the Division II title, completing a 4-0 run against Sunset League teams as a member of the Empire League. The Griffins joined the Sunset League the following fall.

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Long Beach Poly may not have reached the championship game, but a couple of its former players did -- and made considerable impact.

DeAnthony Hicks, a backup junior quarterback for last year’s Division I champions, scored the winning two-point conversion for Corona Centennial during its 57-55, triple-overtime victory over Riverside North in the Division V championship.

Centennial went for two points because its kicker, Adam Alvarez, was injured on the successful point-after attempt during the second overtime.

Junior defensive back Randy Estes, who spent last year at Poly, registered a game-high 13 tackles and returned an interception 26 yards for Los Alamitos during its defeat of Mater Dei.

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His school had just beaten back an emotional rally by Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in the Division III championship game, but Sherman Oaks Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney answered questions as calmly as ever, as a celebration erupted around him.

After fielding a couple of questions, Rooney had one of his own. “How many yards did Mira Costa running back Michael Okwo get?”

The answer brought a brief smile to the face of the conservative coach. Okwo had rushed for 139 yards without a touchdown during Notre Dame’s 20-17 victory at El Camino College.

It seemed a little silly to consider it a victory to “hold” an opponent to 139 yards rushing, but it was a statistical strength for Notre Dame (14-0), which won the battle of unbeatens to snare its first title since 1994.

Okwo, considering USC and Stanford, among other schools, had been crushing opponents all season, coming into the game with 2,342 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns in 235 carries.

But against Notre Dame, Okwo had six yards rushing in the second quarter and fumbled at the Notre Dame 16 midway through the third quarter as the Mustangs tried to cut into a 20-3 deficit. Okwo had only two carries in the fourth quarter as Mira Costa, still trailing by 17, had to go to the air for its two late touchdowns.

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Brigham Harwell, a junior defensive end for Hacienda Heights Los Altos, went into his team’s 27-10 Division VI victory over Santa Ana Foothill with an agenda.

“Our goal was to shut them out,” Harwell said, “but we came up short.”

It was Los Altos’ only shortcoming. That, and maybe failing to make a dent in the ego of at least one particular opponent.

Foothill quarterback Don Poole, who was sacked four times while he wasn’t on the sidelines nursing a hip pointer, somehow wasn’t as impressed as everyone else with the Los Altos defense.

“They’re just like any other team, no better than we were,” said Poole, who passed for 2,792 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, including the 36 yards during his five-for-14 performance Friday. “Every loss, it’s us beating ourselves. We have more weapons, they just got the job done, we didn’t. They’re better competition than most, but they’re not overwhelming.”

Said Los Altos Coach Greg Gano: “Our defense has been super all year, but I didn’t expect to hold Foothill to 10 points.”

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West Covina South Hills Coach Steve Bogan had high praise for Walnut quarterback Daniel Al-Gattas after the Huskies’ 36-8 victory in the Division VII final. And Al-Gattas’ talent made South Hills’ defensive performance all the more impressive.

“It may well be the best defensive performance of the season, because Al-Gattas is the player of the year in this division in my book,” Bogan said. “He’s a heck of an athlete.”

Al-Gattas was sacked nine times by eight players, but only his remarkable athleticism prevented the number from being even higher.

He rushed or scrambled 20 times for 29 yards -- after having rushed for 628 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

South Hills (11-3) closed the season with a seven-game winning streak.

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The kicking game -- or lack thereof -- played a pivotal role in La Habra’s 27-21 victory over Garden Grove Pacifica in the Division IX title game.

When La Habra’s first drive of the game stalled on fourth down just outside the Pacifica one-yard line, Highlander assistant coaches implored Coach Frank Mazzotta to send in the field-goal unit. But Mazzotta opted to go for a touchdown.

When running back Sean Findling bowled into the end zone for the first of his three touchdowns, the decision turned out to be a good one. Kicker Trent Sakioka, who converted 43 point-after kicks on the year, missed the extra point.

And when La Habra scored its second touchdown, only a few minutes later, Sakioka missed that point-after try too.

Later, with five seconds left in the first half, Pacifica faced a fourth down at the La Habra 26-yard line.

Curtis Gladden, who finished the season with 10 field goals, sent his 43-yard attempt into the right upright.

Correspondent Eric Maddy and Times staff writers Mike Bresnahan, Martin Henderson and Paul McLeod contributed to this report.