PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS MATTER KEEPS HART ON TOP INDIANS' QB SETS FAST PACE.

Byline: Gerry Gittelson Staff Writer

Sometimes a little knock on the head does some good. Just ask Kyle Matter. The Hart High football quarterback, recovering from a concussion the previous week, rebounded by completing 25 of 33 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns in Friday's 45-3 victory over Chaminade in a Division III playoff opener at College of the Canyons.

``It was my best game of the season,'' he said. ``It felt good because we played very well and spread the ball around. I'm confident.''

Five players caught at least four passes in the game, something that should give upcoming opponent Crescenta Valley (10-1) plenty to think about in Friday's quarterfinal at Glendale High (7:30 p.m.). Hart has won six in a row, all by at least 14 points. But Crescenta Valley figures to punch back in a matchup featuring Matter against Falcons quarterback Hudson Gossard. Matter has completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,961 yards and 30 touchdowns and Gossard has passed for 2,422 yards (a 62 percent completion average) and 31 touchdowns.

``It's going to be fun. Crescenta Valley should be tougher than Chaminade,'' Matter said.

--No first-game jitters: It's an age-old idiom: The most important individual on the football team is the quarterback, and the second-most important is his backup.

``I'm a firm believer,'' Valencia coach Brian Stiman said.

Hard to blame him. Many wrote off the Vikings when record-setting quarterback Kyle Bauer broke his finger in the regular-season finale. But untested Robert Herrick passed for 113 yards and a touchdown to rally the Vikings (9-2) to a 41-26 victory at Palmdale in a Division III playoff opener Friday.

After his first pass was intercepted, helping Palmdale take a 12-0 lead, Herrick probably was shaking in his cleats - and not from the cold Antelope Valley wind. But Valencia scored four of the next five touchdowns, including a 4-yard pass from Herrick to Will Broadous.

``I couldn't have asked for more from a backup quarterback,'' Stiman said. ``We eeked one out, and I think Herrick showed a lot of character.''

Defending division finalist Valencia meets fourth-seeded Mira Costa (10-1) in Friday's quarterfinal at Canyon High (7:30 p.m.).

``Mira Costa is huge and very physical,'' Stiman said. ``Their smallest lineman is 240 pounds and their biggest is 6-4, 330. It's going to be a tough night. We can't make mistakes.''

--Old-school chums: Stiman and Mira Costa coach Don Morrow go back a long way. They were buddies at Cal State Northridge in the late 1970s.

``But we didn't play football together,'' Stiman said. ``He played on the team, but I wasn't good enough.''

Mira Costa assistant Steve Butler also has local ties. He was an assistant at L.A. Valley College.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Kyle Matter completed 25 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns in Hart's 45-3 win over Chaminade on Friday.

John Kennedy/Staff Photographer