A Granada Hills Defeat Would Confirm Stroh’s Theory

Granada Hills 23, San Pedro 13.

Granada Hills 37, Chatsworth 13.

Granada Hills 40, Van Nuys 0.

Impressive, right?

Not if your name is Darryl Stroh and you happen to be the Highlanders’ varsity football coach.

“We haven’t played real good competition,” Stroh said, “and we’re being overrated because of that.”

Granada Hills is ranked No. 2 in the Valley by The Times, and No. 3 in the entire City Section behind Carson and Gardena.

“Banning has played the best teams in the nation,” Stroh said. “They’ve lost two straight and we’re ranked ahead of them? That’s ludicrous.”

Banning, a perennial contender for the City 4-A title, lost its last two games to Edison and Long Beach Poly. The losses dropped the Pilots’ ranking in the City to No. 5.

Edison is ranked seventh in the Big Five Conference, while Long Beach Poly is No. 2. USA Today ranks Poly as the fifth-best high school team in the nation.

Granada Hills plays at Gardena tonight. The Highlanders are considered by some to be the favorite.

“I don’t understand that,” Stroh said. “We’ve got to be at least a couple of touchdowns underdogs.”

Stroh is not worried about his team becoming cocky due to the lofty rankings.

“We don’t let them read the papers,” he said, jokingly.

“I don’t know how good we are,” he added. “I think we can be pretty good. But we haven’t been tested.”

Was Crespi looking ahead to its big showdown with Canyon tonight when it squeaked by St. Genevieve, 7-0, last Saturday?

“I’m sure they were,” said Crespi Coach Bill Redell, referring to his players.

Crespi (4-0) has the same record as Canyon, and Redell knows the Celts must perform better against the Cowboys than they did against the Valiants.

“This game makes the kids realize we’re not the No. 1 team in the nation,” Redell said after the St. Genevieve game. “If we play like this against Canyon, it’ll be a track meet.”

That might be appropriate, considering the site of the game. Birmingham High is host to the City track and field finals.

Hart, which began the season ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section’s Coastal Conference, has scored just 38 points in four games.

Said Coach Rick Scott: “I don’t know what to do about our offense. We will have to do something. Maybe we should punt on first down and let our defense try to score.”

Hart’s record is 0-3-1.

Add Hart: How tough is the Indians’ schedule? Consider Hart’s three losses. Canyon, Hart’s first opponent, is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the Northwestern Conference. Santa Barbara, Hart’s second opponent, is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the Coastal Conference. Alemany, Hart’s third opponent, is undefeated and ranked No. 10 in the Big-Five Conference.

The schedule hasn’t been completely overwhelming, however. Saugus, which tied with Hart last week, is 0-2-2.

Last add Hart: The Indians’ slow start apparently has been too much for some fans. Several were spotted at the Saugus game with bags over their heads.

Add Saugus: Coach Al Hansen had kind words for Richie Stanford after the nose guard led the Saugus defense in its 0-0 tie with Hart.

“We feel he’s as good as the kid at Canyon.”

The “kid at Canyon” is Joe Zacharia, a returning all-Southern Section selection, and arguably the best defensive player in the Valley.

Stanford may be good, but it should be interesting to see if Hansen repeats his praise after Saugus plays Canyon.

Add Canyon: “Every team that plays us is on a crusade,” commented Coach Harry Welch, whose team has won 28 straight games. “And that’s no joke.”

Last Add Saugus-Canyon: The Oct. 25 game between the Centurions and the Cowboys, originally scheduled for Canyon High, has been moved to College of the Canyons.

Add Stroh: This is Stroh’s first season as a varsity football coach at Granada Hills. He has been the school’s baseball coach much longer.

The major difference between the two sports, he said, is in the amount of preparation for a game.

“When you’re off the baseball field and at home, you feel like the work is done,” he said. “When you get home from football, you feel like you need about three more days to prepare.”

Agoura played its first daytime game in two years last Saturday.

Said one Agoura assistant before the game: “Our guys just aren’t used to this heat. I mean, look at them. They aren’t even moving out there.”

The temperature soared to 101 degrees as Agoura fell to Harvard, 27-13.

When Simi Valley’s M. J. Nelson scored on a 63-yard run against Royal last Saturday, it was the 13th time in his three-year career that he has scored on a play of 50 or more yards. He has a total of 20 touchdowns.

Do you think statistics mean a lot? Then which team won this game:

Sylmar running back Sean Hampton gained 183 yards on 17 carries last week. Venice High’s team lost 18 yards on 18 carries and gained just 69 yards passing.

Who won?

Venice, of course, 14-6.