VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : Hart Passes the Torch, Matter Takes It, 56-18
VALENCIA — Kyle Boller can no longer steal headlines or lead the Hart High football team to victory.
No matter.
He’s left the quarterback position in very capable hands.
It was a splendid coming-out party for junior Kyle Matter, who passed for 342 yards and six touchdowns to lead Hart’s 56-18 rout of Quartz Hill in a nonleague game Thursday at College of the Canyons.
Although he threw only four passes behind Boller last year, Matter felt the pressure of living up to the high expectations placed on Hart quarterbacks.
“There was just so much hype going into this game when I hadn’t even done anything yet,†said Matter, who completed 21 of 30 passes.
Said Coach Mike Herrington of Hart: “He played solid. There was a little stretch there where he overthrew some guys, but he just wasn’t snapping the ball down. He’s a young guy and for his first game he did pretty good.â€
Hart, defending Southern Section Division III champion, extended its winning streak to 10 games with Matter one of seven new faces in the Indians’ run-and-shoot offense.
Matter said he was nervous in the beginning, but he didn’t show it. He completed five of seven passes for 60 yards in an 80-yard opening scoring drive.
Hart scored touchdowns on its first four possessions before running back Tim Gregory lost the first of three Indian fumbles.
But, by then, it didn’t seem to much matter.
Quartz Hill, which has lost 16 of 17 games on the field, had trouble against Hart’s attacking defense.
Most of the Rebels’ 201 yards came on a nifty 72-yard touchdown run by junior Derrick Teal in the first quarter and runs during mop-up time against a third-string defense.
Teal had 83 yards in 15 carries.
Matter threw touchdowns passes on plays of nine, 13, 17, 65, two and eight yards, including three to Joe Aloisi, who was wide open in the end zone for his last two scoring receptions.
With Matter completing 16 of 25 for 270 yards and five touchdowns in the first half, Hart owned a 49-7 lead at intermission.
Chris Ciccone had six catches for 102 yards and Garrett Fuller had five catches for 104.
Wide receiver Jared Bazar sat out the second half, nursing a knee he injured last week in a scrimmage against Moorpark.
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