The first round of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs terminated the seasons of Canyon, Valencia and Trinity Classical Academy, but both Hart and West Ranch live to play another week.
A complete team effort from the offense helped erase a 10-6 deficit at halftime, but the defense was quietly at work, too, shutting down Pumas quarterback Brock White to the best of its ability.
For the first time all season, White went without throwing for a touchdown in a game. The Indians also held him to his lowest passing yardage of the season as he completed 5-of-16 passes for 47 yards. His high for the season was 236, while his second-lowest was 83.
Hart forced him to run, as he picked up 90 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
“Our guys didn’t give up,” said Hart coach Mike Herrington after the win. “They knew that even with all the mistakes we made in the first half that we could come back out and do the things we do well and put some points on the board. When the offense is scoring, it gives our defense a little more confidence.”
Next up for Hart is San Juan Hills of San Juan Capistrano in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.
West Ranch gets Sirias
The Wildcats scored three touchdowns on the ground on Friday against Quartz Hill with a different running back responsible for each one.
Reiger Burgin and Jackson Reyes each scored once and logged 29 and 34 yards, respectively, but there was a fairly new face in the Cats’ stable of running backs: Thierry Sirias.
Sirias has had an up-and-down season at the position. On Aug. 23 against Nordhoff, he ran for 22 yards and one touchdown on two carries. On Sept. 6 against Antelope Valley and on Nov. 1 against Valencia, he had negative yardage.
Against Quartz Hill, he was given the ball more times than he had been all season as he rushed for 12 yards and one touchdown on five carries.
Sirias will have another opportunity to show his talents on Friday as West Ranch hosts Woodrow Wilson at 7 p.m.
First-round knockout
For the second season in a row, Valencia football was eliminated in the first round of playoffs. Last year, Mater Dei beat the Vikings in Division 1 and this year, San Clemente beat them 17-7 in Division 2.
Valencia and San Clemente met not long ago in the postseason. In 2016, the Tritons beat the Vikings 41-35 in the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs. The games were vastly different, with the stats of both quarterbacks the only information that is somewhat comparable.
In 2016, Aaron Thomas threw 17-of-27 for 285 yards. On Friday, Ryan Morrison was 21-of-38 for 246 yards.
