Hart’s Mission is a Streak Stopper

A year after losing to Mission Viejo in the Southern Section Division II championship, Newhall Hart stepped on the field at the Home Depot Center in Carson with redemption on its mind.

And got it.

Hart avenged last year’s loss in dominating fashion, ending Mission Viejo’s 41-game winning streak with a 25-7 victory.

“They were a better team tonight,” said Mission Viejo receiver Marty Tadman, who caught two passes for 16 yards and, after lining up at quarterback, scored his team’s only touchdown on a two-yard run with 2 minutes 19 seconds left. “Tonight, we didn’t have the magic. Hart stepped up and they outplayed us.”

Mission Viejo (13-1) was ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, No. 2 in the state, and as high as No. 5 in some national rankings.

It was a sweet victory for Hart (11-3), which lost its first three games to highly regarded teams. The second-seeded Indians, winners of five section championships in six years, came in ranked No. 8 in the Southland.

“This is for all those seniors last year,” said Hart quarterback Sean Norton, who completed 20 of 24 passes -- including 14 in a row in a span that started early in the second quarter and ended late in the third -- for 309 yards and three touchdowns in becoming the third Hart quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season.

Evan Surratt caught six passes for 131 yards. Ryan Wolfe hauled in two touchdown passes, of 31 and 10 yards, and Kevin Ciccone caught a 19-yard touchdown that gave Hart a 13-0 halftime lead. The Indians led 25-0 going into the fourth quarter.

“Ever since last year, we’ve been starving for this championship,” said Ciccone, who caught six passes for 75 yards and also recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

Wolfe, who missed Hart’s first 10 games because of a knee injury, caught six passes for 63 yards and made two big defensive plays on the first series.

Tadman said he knew then that his team was in for a long night. “No one has ever done that to us,” he said.

Said Hart Coach Mike Herrington: “I think we’re 14-0 if we have Ryan Wolfe in those first three games.”

The Hart defense intercepted three passes by Mark Sanchez, who entered the game having had only four passes intercepted, and recovered a fumble.

Hart scored on its third offensive play, a 51-yard run by Dan Howell, and didn’t have a significant defensive breakdown until late in the fourth quarter.

Last year, Mission Viejo ended Hart’s 35-game winning streak in the title game with a 10-6 victory, and in the glow of victory, Coach Bob Johnson shouted “We want [Concord] De La Salle next year!”

Instead, he got an angry Hart squad bent on revenge.