When Spurlin Found a Home, Granada Hills Found a Quarterback

Brent Spurlin had a choice last spring. He could stay in Newhall and attend Hart High along with all the friends that he had developed over the past 10 years. Or he could move to another area, attend another school and play football. Spurlin didn’t think he would get much of a chance to play this season at Hart.

He chose to move.

People at Granada Hills are happy he did.

Spurlin enters tonight’s game against Cleveland as the top-rated City Section quarterback in the Valley.

Through six games, the 6-1, 180-pound senior has completed 57 of 104 passes for 939 yards. He has thrown 16 touchdowns with just three interceptions.

The Highlanders, ranked No. 2 in the Valley by The Times, are 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Valley 4-A League.

“Brent has played very well,” Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh said. “He’s continued to improve in all areas. He can throw the ball very well and he’s made great strides in reading defenses.”

Spurlin said he could read what was happening at Hart.

Jimmy Bonds, a junior and Hart’s current starter, was the heir-apparent after setting several school passing records as a freshman and sophomore. A a freshman, he led his team to a 6-0 record before completing a 10-0 season as a sophomore when he threw for 1,695 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Spurlin was leading the Indians to an 8-1-1 record and the Foothill League championship last season as the starting varsity quarterback. He threw for 1,195 yards and seven touchdowns.

“I thought I had a great year,” Spurlin said of his junior campaign. “I felt it should have been no problem starting (this season at Hart). But hey, I guess they wanted to start Jimmy Bonds.”

Spurlin said Hart Coach Rick Scott told him that if Bonds did half as well as he did in spring practice, Bonds would be the starter.

When it was announced that Spurlin had left Hart, Scott said that the two quarterbacks entered spring drills evenly.

Spurlin didn’t wait around to find out the results of spring. He talked the situation over with his father and the family decided to move.

Spurlin read a newspaper article that discussed how several of the Valley teams looked in the spring.

“It said that Granada Hills needed a quarterback and that they had great receivers,” he said.

After meeting with Stroh, Spurlin was convinced he should become a Highlander.

He finished the school year at Hart, but attended spring practice at Granada Hills.

The drive between Newhall and Granada Hills ended for Spurlin when his family moved to Northridge in August.

Over the summer, Spurlin spent time nearly every day throwing passes to wide receiver Greg Fowble.

“After we’d lift (weights), we would throw about 25 to 30 passes a day,” Spurlin said. “If we hadn’t thrown in the summertime as much as we did, I don’t think we would have jelled as fast as we have.”

Spurlin-to-Fowble has become the top passing combination among Valley City schools. Fowble has 24 catches for 570 yards and 12 touchdowns. Ironically, Bonds is the leading Southern Section passer in the Valley area.

“He’s the best receiver in the Valley,” Spurlin said. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I’d be as high (among the passing leaders) as I am now.”

Spurlin was asked if, in retrospect, he could have picked a better place.

“No way,” he said, looking around at the campus. “This is it.”

Running back Kenny Durr will play for Canoga Park in the Hunters’ Sunset League showdown with Chatsworth tonight.

Durr was suspended by Canoga Park Coach Ed McCarthy for disciplinary reasons last week. He missed Canoga Park’s game against Van Nuys last Friday. He also missed practice on Monday of this week, but the suspension was lifted by McCarthy on Tuesday.

Durr leads the Hunters in rushing with 54 carries for 306 yards and 5 touchdowns in 5 games.

Dubious Trade of the Year: To replace a void on its schedule created by the demise of the Webb football program, Montclair Prep signed a contract to play San Fernando this season.

That game took place last week. Montclair Prep was slaughtered, 47-7. Last season, the Mounties beat Webb, 76-0.

Add Montclair Prep: The Mounties are 1-3 against nonleague opponents this season, but 4-0 in the Alpha League. Montclair Prep has outscored league opponents, 166-3.

Montclair Prep has played close games against three of its nonleague opponents, losing to St. Genevieve, 19-14, and Chaminade, 10-7, and beat Van Nuys, 19-7. The only rout was its loss to San Fernando, but Coach John Hazelton said he doesn’t regret his decision to schedule the Tigers.

“They did a number on us, but even though the score was real bad, it taught our kids that they could stay on the field with them,” Hazelton said. “We didn’t score much, but we were successful moving the ball on a great City team. That’s the silver lining on a big, dark cloud.”

Even with the lopsided loss to San Fernando, Montclair Prep is averaging 309 yards of offense a game, while giving up only 140.3. The Mounties are led by tailback Riche Swinton, who has rushed for 1,216 yards and 14 touchdowns on 144 carries. Swinton is being recruited by UCLA as a defensive back.

The Mounties are ranked seventh in the Southern Section’s Inland Conference.

Poll puzzle: West Torrance was so impressive in battling to a 0-0 tie against unranked Newbury Park last week, it moved up from No. 10 to No. 7 in the Southern Section’s Coastal Conference poll by sportswriters.

Add polls: Hart, which opened the season as the top-ranked team in the Coastal Conference, moved back into the rankings at No. 8 after a six-week absence. The Indians opened the season 0-3-1, but have won four in a row. Westlake, which was ranked No. 5 last week, moved up to No. 4.