A SYSTEM AND ITS STANDOUTS; HART'S OFFENSE BREEDS GREAT QUARTERBACKS.

Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer

For years, high school football coaches in the Santa Clarita Valley have watched it, talked about it and admired it.

It is the offensive system at Hart High, an annual display of passing and catching and especially scoring. In each season from 1990-97, an Indians quarterback has thrown for at least 2,825 yards and 24 touchdowns and has been named All-Southern Section.

The list of succession: Ryan Connors (1990-91), Davis Delmatoff ('92), Mike Kocicka ('93), Steve McKeon ('94-'95), Travis Carroll ('96) and David Neill ('97).

There is no tradition at any area high school more grounded or certain than Hart having a fine quarterback. So, what's the secret?

``A lot of hard work on their part, mostly,'' said Dean Herrington, the Indians' offensive coordinator who has coached with his brothers Mike and Rick for the past decade. ``We make our quarterbacks do a lot of weightlifting. We spend a lot of time as far as practicing and watching film.''

The efficiency of Hart's run-and-shoot offense is staggering. Even though current quarterback Kyle Boller has averaged 370 yards per game, including topping 400 four times, he doesn't even have the school record for yards in a season.

Entering tonight's Division III playoff game against St. Francis, Boller has 4,066 yards. Connors threw for 4,144 in '91, a section record at the time.

Alemany coach Jim Bonds, a standout quarterback at Hart in the mid-'80s, said there is a common thread weaving through the list of all-section Indians quarterbacks.

``It's a tribute to Dean Herrington,'' Bonds said. ``If you're a quarterback, you want to throw the ball. You don't want to hand it off 35 times a game.''

The Herringtons haven't been relying on talent. Until Neill, no Hart quarterback from the 1990s had started an NCAA Division I game. That's partly because the Indians don't need a big quarterback (read: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds) to execute their run-and-shoot offense. Mike Herrington notes the quarterbacks of the 1990s have had varying size, arm strength and ability. But to be a starting quarterback at Hart, one needs two attributes.

``They need to be competitors and they need to be intelligent,'' he said.

They don't need to be prototype.

``(The run-and-shoot) used to be called the `polecat' type of offense,'' Canyon coach Larry Mohr said. ``You don't need a 6-foot-3 quarterback. You have to be able to move. Steve McKeon was a great quarterback at 5-foot-9.''

Boller is a senior; he was the backup to Neill and a starting safety last year. Neill, who set the NCAA record for passing yards in a game by a freshman in September, also only had one year to shine in the Indians' system; he backed up Carroll in '96.

And Carroll? He was also a backup until his senior year. McKeon led the Indians to the section Division II title in '95, when Carroll threw only four passes.

Dean Herrington said it is a coincidence that Carroll, Neill and Boller all were backups as juniors. There isn't a senior system at Hart.

``It just happened to work out,'' he said.

HART QBS IN THE '90S

Year QB Yards TDs

1990 Ryan Conners 2,825 24

1991 Ryan Conners 4,144 39

1992 Davis Delmatoff 3,197 36

1993 Mike Kocicka 2,979 32

1994 Steve McKeon 2,921 30

1995 Steve McKeon 3,323 33

1996 Travis Carroll 2,835 27

1997 David Neill 3,056 26

1998 Kyle Boller x4,066 x51

x -Current

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1) CONNORS

(2) KOCICKA

(3) McKEON

Box: HART QBS IN THE '90s (See Text)