Indians score twice in second half, top Quartz Hill, 14-7
Hart head coach Rick Herrington returned to the sidelines for Friday night’s season opener at Quartz Hill, his first game back since heart transplant surgery earlier this year.
His players gave him a nice gift back as well, picking up the program’s first win in a season opener in six years, topping Quartz Hill on the road on Friday, 14-7.
“Some different little things kept happening, but the offense played much better in the second half, moved the ball pretty well,” Herrington said.
Herrington joked that the grass at Quartz Hill was “awfully thick,” but otherwise, he felt fine coaching with his new heart.
“A little tired, but that’s OK,” Herrington said.
Hart quarterback Tim Larkins tossed two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, the first two scores of the game. The first went to star senior receiver Shawn Irwin, with the other going to running back Zach Rogozik.
Larkins also tossed one interception.
“He did some stuff well, ran the ball a couple of times really well and led them pretty well,” Herrington said. “It wasn’t bad, just a few breakdowns on the offensive line that hurt us.”
Quartz Hill’s lone score came on a kickoff return that Herrington said came after a couple of kicks that went out of bounds. According to Herrington, the Indians pleaded to the officials that the first one did not go out of bounds, but to no avail. The second one did, in fact, go out, resulting in a kickoff that was 10 yards further back after both penalties were assessed.
Herrington pointed out defensive tackle Vince Tiscareno, linebacker Chris Clauss and defensive end Oliver Welch as standouts on defense. Welch was big in getting tackles in the backfield, while the rest of the defense was putting pressure all over the field.
“I was pretty happy with the defense,” Herrington said. “Just a couple mistakes here and there. We can fix them.”
Hart kicker Bennett Murphy made both PATs.
Herrington is looking forward to Hart’s homecoming game next Friday against Oxnard, set to kick off at 7 p.m. at College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium. He hopes to see the offense play like it did in the second half while cleaning up the mistakes on defense to keep it humming.
“Hopefully they do a little better next week,” Herrington said. “But hey, anytime you not let the team score, you got to be happy about it.”
