Undefeated Hart Awakens, Puts Westlake to Sleep, 38-0

Sleeping at the wheel early in the football game Friday night, Hart High looked anything but the top-ranked team in The Times regional poll.

The Indians, however, eventually woke up--and put Westlake to sleep.

When all was said and done, it was a good night for Hart, which dismantled the Warriors, 38-0, in a nonleague game at Thousand Oaks.

Indian quarterback Davis Delmatoff, whose reputation seems to grow with each spiral, completed 15 of 30 passes for 275 yards. He threw for four touchdowns and no interceptions for Hart (3-0), which has outscored its opponents, 102-12.

Multi-talented tailback Deriek Charles gained 101 yards in eight carries.

Charles, who also caught three passes for 85 yards, was on the receiving end of a third-quarter shovel pass from Delmatoff, which he promptly turned into a breathtaking 60-yard touchdown play to put the Indians ahead, 31-0.

The Indian defense dominated the Westlake quarterbacks, finishing with five sacks and two interceptions in keeping the Warriors (0-3) winless.

Hart’s performance in the early going, however, was admittedly off.

“We just weren’t into the flow at the start like we were last week (in a 21-6 win over Thousand Oaks)” Charles said. “I think we looked at their record and figured it would be easy, but then we got going and picked up the pieces.”

Despite leading, 17-0, at halftime, the Indians were out of sync, their offense shooting one blank after another.

Hart was penalized seven times for 40 yards in the opening half, with one of the yellow flags wiping out a five-yard touchdown run by Charles in the first quarter. Penalties on the two consecutive plays following the nullified touchdown forced Hart to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Tim Cronk.

Delmatoff--who repeatedly missed open receivers--completed just three of his first 11 passes for 50 yards and Hart failed to score a touchdown on its first three possessions.

Then the triggerman found his game.

Hart went ahead, 10-0, on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Delmatoff to Jared Halverson in the second quarter, and Cronk’s successful point-after kick. Halverson made a nice diving catch for the pass that Delmatoff threw in the right corner of the end zone.