This Game Features Genuine Intrigue

If you believe the story, it’s a spy caper worthy of a John Le Carre novel, with all the secrets exposed by an undercover agent planted right in front of them.

This espionage story could eventually change the balance of football power in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Fed up with losing every game to Newhall Hart, Valencia decided to copy the Indians’ successful spread passing offense last year. After going through his extensive video collection of Hart games, Viking offensive coordinator Larry Muir installed the new offense.

“I probably have more Hart film in my library than the Herringtons,” Muir said. “A lot of teams emulate what they do, but how many look like them?”

Valencia pulled off the feat.

“It’s identical,” Hart Coach Mike Herrington said. “They’re the first one to do everything we have.”

With its new offense, Valencia came close to upsetting the Indians last season, opening a 21-point lead before losing, 42-35.

Hart hasn’t lost a Foothill League game since 1990, with the streak at 65. Valencia, which hasn’t beaten Hart in 10 tries, is supposed to have its best shot ever on Friday, when the Vikings (6-1 overall, 2-0 in league) play the Indians (5-2, 2-0) at College of the Canyons.

Adding to the intrigue is that Hart coaches say Valencia was able to take its offense to the next level with the help of an insider, former Viking quarterback Kyle Bauer, who played for two years at College of the Canyons under offensive coordinator Dean Herrington, architect of Hart’s spread offense.

“Bauer gave them everything,” Dean Herrington said.

Valencia Coach Brian Stiman said Bauer stopped by during the spring and summer and helped critique the Vikings’ offense, making suggestions from what he learned under Dean Herrington. But Stiman added with laughter, “We had no cloak and dagger going.”

And Dean Herrington said, “Larry Muir has done a great job. He studied his butt off.”

Bauer, now a backup quarterback at Weber State, insisted all he did was “help out” Valencia quarterback Michael Herrick with some tutoring on the spread offense.

Mike Herrington knew the secrets of Hart’s offensive playbook would slowly slip out once his younger brother left for Canyons in 2001.

“It’s one of those things,” Mike said. “We try to keep a few secrets here and there. It’s just like if I had one of my ex-players go into coaching somewhere else and used my stuff. It’s just a compliment.”

And the Vikings leave no doubt about their admiration for what Hart has accomplished with an offensive scheme that has produced 19 consecutive seasons of All-Southern Section quarterbacks and six section titles.

“We had been watching what was happening to us for 10 years and taking as many notes as possible,” Stiman said. “We never had the personnel to say, ‘Let’s jump into it,’ until last year. It is a compliment to the highest degree, because what they’re doing is something special.”

The chief beneficiary of Valencia’s conversion has been Herrick, a junior quarterback who at times runs the no-huddle offense better than some Hart quarterbacks did when they played. This season, he has passed for 1,805 yards and 18 touchdowns.

But Valencia knows the challenge Friday isn’t outperforming Hart in running the same offense. It’s gaining the mental toughness and confidence to beat the Indians. And there are other obstacles.

Hart’s defensive coordinator, Rick Herrington, knows the offense well.

“We’ll see if he can stop what he has been looking at for the last 16 years,” Mike Herrington said.

Dean Herrington still serves as an advisor to Hart offensive coordinator Davis Delmatoff.

“We’ve got the grand master still working with us,” Mike Herrington said.

If fans think that both teams are running the same plays, they’d be right.

“They sent someone to film our games, and it seems like anything we run, they’ve put in,” Mike Herrington said. “It’s just a chess match. Who’s going to make the first move?”

Mike Herrington calls his team the “underdog” for the first time against Valencia, and there are signs the Indians are concerned. The coaches have been working on Sundays for the last couple of weeks, something they’ve rarely done.

Stiman was almost incredulous when told his team was the favorite.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “We’ve lost 10 in a row, and in every poll, they’re rated ahead of us. We’re the underdog without question.”

The good news is that neither team has to worry about someone spying at practices this week. All the secrets have been let out. Now it’s time for the players to do their thing.

“I remember an old coach told me, ‘It’s not always the Xs and O’s. It’s the Jimmys and Joes,’ ” Mike Herrington said.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.