THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Statwatch : Granada Hills Makes a Run at Opponents

Granada Hills passed for 35 touchdowns last season, averaging just less than 3 a game. This season, however, the Highlanders are taking the low road. In Friday’s 35-0 win over Hamilton, all 5 Granada Hills touchdowns were scored on the ground.

Four running backs have scored touchdowns this season, and three have scored two or more. Meanwhile, junior quarterback Chris Gadomski has passed for just 1 touchdown in three games.

Rushing: Monroe’s Curtis Scott has rushed for more than 100 yards in three consecutive games. Scott, 5 foot, 10 inches and 190 pounds, gained 121 yards in 27 carries against Venice last week and had 162 yards in 22 carries in the opener against Chatsworth. He also rushed for 207 yards in 23 carries in last season’s finale against Birmingham. Scott has gained 490 yards in 72 carries during the streak, an average of 6.8 yards. . . . Running back Mike Lindsay and quarterback Anthony Gonzales have gained all but 136 of Thousand Oaks’ 428 rushing yards. Lindsay’s 57-yard touchdown jaunt against Canyon was the first scoring run for a Lancer running back this season.

Oak Park’s backfield duo of Jason Stein and Jess Garner have combined to rush for 799 yards. Stein is averaging 9.9 yards a carry and Garner’s average is 8.6. . . . Burbank’s backfield of tailback Tarin Cardenaz and fullback Bill Charles has rushed for 447 yards. Cardenaz has gained 244 yards, Charles 203. The Bulldogs have passed for only 115 yards.

Village Christian has amassed 1,064 yards total offense--781 rushing--in three games. Running back Joe Everett had his third consecutive 100-yard performance with 146 yards in 26 carries against Murphy. . . . Van Nuys (1-1) rushed for 1,892 yards in nine games last season (210.2 yards a game), but the Wolves have gained only 125 yards in two games this season.

Balance: Defenses have found Alemany (3-0) indefensible. Not only does tailback Tyler Robuck lead Valley-area backs with 516 yards in 69 carries but Joey Rosselli leads area quarterbacks with 591 yards passing.

Scoring: Henry Ray is Reseda’s third-leading scorer and has yet to score an offensive touchdown. Ray has returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown and scored on a 54-yard punt return. He also scored on a 20-yard return of a recovered fumble in last season’s 13-12 last-second victory over University. . . . Kicker Andrew Munoz of San Fernando has connected on all 3 field goals and 7 PATs he has attempted.

Defense: Alemany, behind the play of senior captains Brian Swanson, Mark Sauter, Brian McClain and Robert Kindall, has allowed only 63 rushing yards in three games. . . . Village Christian defensive back Michael Curl has 6 interceptions in the past two games.

The Oak Park defense held Leffingwell Christian to minus-2 yards rushing. In three games, the team has yielded 347 yards in total offense. . . . Against Simi Valley, Agoura recovered 2 fumbles, intercepted 2 passes and blocked a punt in its 35-20 victory. Simi Valley also was called for 105 yards in penalties, the most since Dave Murphy became coach in 1984. In 1985, when the Pioneers won the Marmonte League title, they incurred 220 yards in penalties all season.

Streaks: Grant’s loss to University on Friday was the fourth in four tries against the Warriors for Lancer Coach Bill Foster. University, which won this season’s meeting, 28-0, has shut out Grant three times during that streak and outscored the Lancers, 129-14. . . . For the third consecutive season, Poly has a 2-1 record after three games. In the previous two seasons, however, the Parrots have not finished better than 3-6.

Special teams: Channel Islands defeated Oxnard, 26-25, despite missing all three of its point-after attempts and passing for just 12 yards. A healthy John Johnson, who rushed for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns, was the difference.

St. Francis’ Manny Bravo is averaging 32.2 yards a punt return, including a 76-yard touchdown last week against Blair.

Numbers: Westlake might be 0-3 but the combined record of its opponents is 8-1.

Channel Islands is the only Marmonte League team that has scored more points than it has allowed (84-58). The rest of the league, which has a combined record of 3-14, has been outscored, 396-205.

FOOTBALL TOP 10 Selected by sportswriters of the Times

Rk Last Wk League Record 1 1 Crespi Del Rey 2-1 2 4 Channel Islands Marmonte 2-1 3 7 Alemany Del Rey 3-0 4 2 San Fernando N. Valley 1-2 5 6 Reseda Mid-Valley 2-0 6 10 Granada Hills N. Valley 2-1 7 NR Glendale Pacific 3-0 8 3 Hart Foothill 1-2 9 5 Taft W. Valley 1-1 10 8 Kennedy N. Valley 2-1

NR--Not ranked.