Ali Stings Like Bee, Gets 3 Touchdowns in Granada’s 54-6 Rout

Granada Hills running back Khalid Ali rushed for 128 yards on 18 carries and scored 3 touchdowns as the Highlanders destroyed Gardena, 54-6, in a nonleague game Friday night at Granada Hills.

The Highlanders (4-0) were ahead, 27-6, at halftime.

Granada Hills quarterback Jeremy Leach completed 10 of 13 passes for 135 yards, including a touchdown, and was not intercepted.

Gardena’s Terrell Smith returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, but that would be the last scoring of the night for the Mohicans (0-4).

On Granada’s first possession, Ali broke off consecutive runs of 19 and 13 yards . The Highlanders drove to the Gardena 20, but the drive stalled and kicker Charles Fowcks missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

Gardena got the ball back and soon had to kick from its own 19. The ball was snapped over the head of punter David Timoteo, who ran back into the end zone but failed to fall on the ball. Granada’s De Wayne Williams recovered the ball for a touchdown. Fowcks’ kick was wide left.

Granada Hills soon followed with 10-yard and 15-yard scoring runs by Ali for a 20-6 lead.

Gardena then started switching quarterbacks on every other down, but the strategy didn’t work. The Mohicans gained just 18 yards passing and 28 yards rushing in the first half.

In the fourth quarter, Granada Hills picked up three more touchdowns. A six-yard pass from Leach to Sean Brown made the score 40-6 with 10:16 left in the game.

A 36-yard interception return by Derik Weinberger for a touchdown and a six-yard touchdown by Jaime Sandoval with three minutes left ended the scoring.