NORTHERN DIVISION FINAL: MOORPARK VS. CANYON, 4 P.M, HOME DEPOT CENTER TAKING IT 1 YARD AT A TIME SCOTT HITS 3,076 YARDS AS JUNIOR.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE  Staff Writer

MOORPARK - The scouting report was easy enough to draw up.

Of course, Hart of Newhall coach Mike Herrington still watched a lot of film, because that's what you do to prepare for a semifinal playoff game.

And, that's what you do when you're the kind of coach who contends for a championship every year.

But it doesn't take a genius to figure out what Moorpark likes to do offensively. Heck, the Musketeers practically hand the playbook to their opponents: Darrell Scott is going to run the ball. Go ahead and try to stop him.

This would be Herrington's second crack at containing Scott. The first time, he torched the Indians for 245 yards and fourtouchdowns.

But that was the second week of the season, and Herrington's team had grown up immeasurably in the time that had passed.

So Herrington went to work. He studied Scott, looking for flaws. He studied Moorpark, looking for weaknesses. And in the end, he came away with one thought:

``(Darrell Scott) is one of the best running backs in the region,'' Herrington said.

``Ever.''

Despite all the preparation, the result was a lot like the first time. Scott went off for 249 yards and four TDs.

Moorpark moved on to tonight's Southern Section Northern Division championship game against Canyon of Canyon Country at the Home Depot Center in Carson. Hart went home for the winter with a 56-27 loss and a mess of bruises from all the stiff arms Scott thrust at them along the way.

``He's an intimidating force out there,'' Herrington said.

``He's a 205-pound running back that runs over people and one of the fastest guys on the field. ... I think he intimidated some of our guys.''

Herrington need not feel too badly though. Scott's done the same thing to every opponent he's played this year. Only two teams -- Canyon and Calabasas -- have held him under 200 yards.

On the season, he has amassed an area large-schools record 3,076 yards rushing, and scored 44 touchdowns. In case you don't have a calculator in front of you, that's 237 yards rushing and 3.4 TDs a game.

And oh yeah, he's only a junior.

Next year, Rivals.com recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said he expected that Scott could be rated as the No. 1 running back in the country. He'll likely have his pick of whatever college he wants to go to (more than 20 have offered him scholarships so far).

``Wow, that means a lot,'' Scott said of the potential No. 1 rating next season. ``I want it. It's a heavy target, but I'm ready to carry the load.''

And why not? It's basically the same target Scott has had hoisted onto his shoulders every Friday night this season and it hasn't slowed him down yet.

He just hops behind the Musketeers mammoth offensive line, follows gutty senior fullback Zach Trottier toward the hole and looks for someone to run over.

``Sometimes there's eight or nine people in the box,'' Trottier said. ``When you're playing 11 people on the field, that's a lot of people in the box just trying to stop the run.

``We're very physical and we have the mentality that we're going to beat our opponent on every play. That's the mentality that gets your running back 200, 300 yards a game.''

Last year, Scott didn't always understand the value of the talented blockers in front of him.

He rushed for 1,998 yards and 19 touchdowns, but admits it could've been a lot more.

``I was impatient,'' he said. ``I've got 300-pound offensive linemen blocking for me and I wouldn't wait for them to find their blocks.

``We'd watch film and I'd always be out in front of them. I had to learn to be more patient this year.''

Uh-huh. Impatient and he still ran for 1,998 yards.

That's Scott though.

He's a normal teenager. He hangs out with his girlfriend, goes to the movies and plays video games for hours on end.

At school, he's popular with the student body. Rarely will you ever see him with anything less than a big smile on his face.

But Alexis Scott didn't raise her only son to be the kind of kid whose biggest victories in life come on a Nintendo or Xbox. She didn't work 9-to-5 all her life and uproot herself from Tallahassee, Fla., to Moorpark in search of a better life four years ago to see her only son spend his high school years in front of the television.

``She deserves all my respect. She's a single mother who worked and took care of a kid,'' Scott said. ``She's my best friend, the only person I tell everything to.''

Last year, Scott asked his mom for something else. His uncle Josh Smith was developing into a top wide receiver back home in Florida.

Scott looked around, saw the talent on his own team and figured a wide receiver like Smith could put them over the edge. Having one of his best friends around as he adjusted to life in the sleepy suburb would be cool, too.

``I needed backup,'' he joked. ``So I called in some family.''

Technically, Smith is Scott's uncle. He's Darrell's mom's younger brother. But because of their closeness in age, they've always been more like brothers.

Darrell knew it'd be an extra burden on his mom, who was already working hard to support him. Somehow, they've made it all work.

In his own way, Darrell says he's paying her back one yard at a time.

If you're still wondering why he runs so hard on every play, just look up in the stands at his mom.

``I just want to get a full scholarship to college and see if it can take me somewhere,'' he said. ``One day, it'd be pretty cool to look back and tell my kids, `Look what I did.'''

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