Hart Needs Rally to Defeat Sylmar

For the record, it wasn’t anything like last year’s slaughter.

Neither coach thought it would be. The local press, Jeff Engilman of Sylmar High and Mike Herrington of Hart, had it wrong from the beginning.

“Tell the press people we beat the spread,” Engilman cracked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Point spread that is, not Hart’s high-octane spread offense.

The heavily favored Indians overcame a rare first-half deficit to record a 28-12 victory over Sylmar on Friday night at College of the Canyons.

“A lot of people were picking us to win big and [Sylmar] has a lot of talent,” said Herrington, whose team has won 12 consecutive games.

Sylmar, which trailed, 35-0, at halftime a year ago, nearly turned the tables on the Indians (3-0) in the rematch.

Sylmar (1-2) not only scored first, it claimed two leads in the first half, including a 12-7 halftime lead.

The Spartans’ blitzing defense, led by linebacker Mark Sutton, disrupted the Indians’ passing attack and forced interceptions by Donnell Livingston on Hart’s second and third possessions.

“They showed us a few things we weren’t expecting,” said quarterback Kyle Matter, who was sacked four times and knocked down several more.

Adjustments at halftime appeared the difference, as Matter & Co. came out firing in the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points on three consecutive possessions.

To help offset the swarming defense, Hart called upon bruising fullback Pat Norton. Although he did not carry the ball in Hart’s victories over Quartz Hill and Thousand Oaks, Norton was more than happy to answer the call.

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound UCLA-bound senior carried 11 times for 38 yards and scored on two one-yard plunges.

His first touchdown and Kirk Bardin’s conversion kick gave Hart its first lead, 7-6, with 4:02 left in the first half. His second capped the scoring early in the fourth quarter.

Matter completed 17 of 29 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns, including 143 yards in the second half. He threw scoring passes of 34 and six yards to receiver Chris Ciccone.

Tim Gregory rushed for 95 yards in 15 carries for Hart and David Contreras had 73 yards and in 14 carries for Sylmar.