Hart Wins but Is Broken Up

CANYON COUNTRY —  It was a big victory for Hart High on Friday night, a 48-10 drubbing of Canyon in a Foothill League finale at Canyon High, but it was also a big loss.

All-American receiver Jerry Owens left the game at halftime with what is believed to be a broken right leg and probably is out for the season.

The injury occurred on a kickoff return just before halftime, a play Coach Mike Herrington of Hart (8-2, 5-0 in league play) said should never have happened.

Pat Terry kicked a 20-yard field goal to pull Canyon (6-4, 3-2) to within 27-10 on the previous play. There were four seconds on the clock before the snap and two after the play.

Herrington lashed out at officials about the timekeeper, but the ensuing kickoff was allowed.

“The officials blew the call,” Herrington said. “That should have taken more than two seconds.”

Herrington claimed the field-goal attempt should not have been allowed. On second down, quarterback Jason McKeon of Canyon was ruled out of bounds, stopping the clock with four seconds left.

“He hit both knees in and lunged out,” Herrington said. “The official on our sideline admitted to us that he blew the call.”

As for the loss of Owens, who has a region-high 63 receptions for 1,373 yards and 16 touchdowns, Herrington said he is irreplaceable.

“It’s a big loss not only on the field but as a team leader,” Herrington said. “Hopefully it was misdiagnosed, but I’m expecting the worst.’

Not letting the injury get him down, Hart quarterback Kyle Boller connected with Shane Lavoie for a 70-yard gain on the first play of the second half.

The tight spiral was right on the mark after traveling an estimated 76 yards in the air and had coaches and fans buzzing about it for the rest of the game.

“Boller is good,” Canyon Coach Larry Mohr said. “He’s better in person than he is on film.”

Boller completed 15 of 21 passes for 346 yards and five touchdowns. He has 46 touchdown passes, breaking the Southern Section record of 45 set by Chris Czernek of Newbury Park in 1995.

Boller’s 3,710 yards give him the state regular-season record, breaking the 3,599 by Ryan Hancock of Cupertino Monta Vista in 1989.

“Those things just come,” said Boller, who also had a 69-yard touchdown reception on a double reverse pass from Jared Bazar. “Our goal was to win league, next is to win a [Southern Section] title.”

Bazar picked up for Owens, catching six passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Hart outgained Canyon, 426-261, despite having possession only 10 minutes 24 seconds.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Boller Watch

A game-by-game look at how Kyle Boller of Hart High has fared this season:

*--*

Opponent Com. Att. Yds. I TD Quartz Hill 25 42 422 1 5 Thousand Oaks 20 44 399 0 3 Sylmar 13 21 269 0 5 Palmdale 22 36 348 0 6 Loyola 22 41 362 0 2 Saugus 25 31 398 0 6 Burroughs 28 39 426 0 5 Valencia 16 27 265 1 2 Burbank 30 37 475 0 7 Canyon 15 21 346 0 5 Totals 216 339 3710 2 46

*--*

The national record for passing yards in a season is 4,654.