SNEAK PEEK AT HART'S FUTURE.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON

So now that the town officially has been painted red after what might have been Hart High's most historic football victory, the team can savor its 25-7 upset of mighty Mission Viejo in Saturday's Southern Section Div. II championship at Home Depot Center in Carson.

For a while at least.

But, naturally, an important issue beckons, as it always does this time of year: What about next year?

Four of the team's (and the division's) best players - record-setting quarterback Sean Norton, receiver/defensive back Kevin Ciccone, running back/linebacker Daniel Howell and linebacker Brian Elledge - are graduating seniors.

As is regularly the case at Hart, the key will be the development of another dominating quarterback. For the first time in a long while, there will be competition for the starting job, as senior-to-be Robbie Moore and junior-to-be Tyler Lyon will go head to head.

Moore, brother of former Hart standout/UCLA starter Matt Moore, was a superb junior varsity quarterback two seasons ago before serving as Norton's backup this year. The 6-foot, 150-pounder completed eight passes in spot duty this season but established himself as one of the Foothill League's best safeties by intercepting six passes after breaking into the starting lineup in Week 3.

Moore figures to have the inside track over Lyon because he spent this year learning the offense. But Lyon is much bigger at 6-3, 180 pounds, and he led the junior varsity team to a Foothill League title this year. Lyon, the son of College of the Canyons coach Chuck Lyon, didn't have as much yardage and touchdowns as Moore did the previous season. Also, he probably wouldn't play a position other than quarterback.

It should be an interesting competition and both figure to get plenty of looks during Hart's usual busy summer passing-league schedule.

Another interesting development will be at running back, always a crucial position in Hart's one-back system because the tailback must establish himself as a runner, an important blitz blocker and a receiver.

Howell scored 27 of the team's 76 touchdowns this season, and finding a replacement won't be easy. The leading candidates are Bryan Toledo and Robbie Casselberry, along with outsider James Wheeler. Toledo was Howell's backup and rushed for 221 yards. Casselberry, a sophomore, began the season on varsity but was moved to the JV early in the season and had a decent but not spectacular year. Wheeler, a sophomore, is the fastest of the three but has academic-eligibility issues.

Frankly, none of the three hopefuls figures to measure up to Howell, who might have been the league's purest athlete. But there is one option that could give Hart perhaps the league's best running back by far: move receiver/linebacker Ryan Wolfe, the team's top returning all-around player, to running back, which was his natural position as a dominant freshman.

Wolfe is built more like a receiver at 6-3, 180 pounds, and he's still recovering from a summer knee injury even though he appeared fully healthy after returning for the playoffs. But if Wolfe, a slam-dunk jumper, can put on some weight - which would make him 6-3, 190 or 200 - Hart would have a special running back: a big, fast, athletic standout who could touch the ball 20 to 25 times a game instead of five or six as a receiver.

If Wolfe does move to running back, Hart potentially could have four excellent receivers. Evan Surratt (48 catches, 11 touchdowns) should be a Division I recruit, and part-time starter Terry Leigh (22 catches, two TDs) also will be back. Dillon Christensen was an excellent JV receiver two years ago before concentrating on kicking this season. If he can develop, along with JV breakaway threat Troy Yudin, Hart would have enough wideouts to move Wolfe.

The offensive line should be fine, based on the return of all-state candidate Joe Bernardi along with fellow starters Zac Zimmerman and Dusty Green.

Defensively, Hart will have more returning starters than usual, including Moore, Wolfe and Surratt in the secondary, plus middle linebacker Bubba Hetman, and linemen Steve Burton and Brock Arndt. Toledo and Leigh also saw playing time at cornerback, and cornerback prospect Patrick Meza will be back after proving himself as a solid special-teams player.

Among the JV players expected to make significant contributions is linebacker Patrick Sarkissian, who was the one of the league's best. A key development will be the maturity of defensive lineman Jon Hartmire, who is among the league's biggest, strongest and most athletic players. This past season, the 6-2, 280-pound Hartmire didn't make the impact many expected even though he was just a sophomore, and Hartmire surprisingly spent most of the year on the JV.

As for Hart's competition, Canyon (11-2) doesn't figure to be nearly as strong because standouts Nate Longshore (quarterback), Louis Montano (quarterback), Sean Coen (receiver) and Andrew Schantz (linebacker) graduate after establishing themselves as among the best in school history. Valencia (8-4) returns 3,000-yard quarterback Michael Herrick, leading receiver Shane Morales and standout linebacker Torrey O'Brien. But even if Valencia returned all 22 starters, the team would remain in Hart's shadow because that's just the way it is in this town.

The others - Saugus (2-8), Burbank (6-5), Burroughs (4-7) - are million- to-one shots to dethrone the mighty Indians, who have won 63 consecutive league games and 23 of 24 playoff games. Those schools are welcome to compete for league titles in other sports - but never again in football as long as Hart (and head coach Mike Herrington) remain.