San Fernando Fattened Up on City Foes

October was much, much kinder to San Fernando High--and so were City Section opponents.

After an 0-3 start against Southern Section Division I teams, the Tigers have rebounded to win four in a row and are currently tied for first place with Granada Hills in North Valley League play.

The reason for the turnaround is easy to pinpoint. In its first three games, San Fernando rushed for a total of 80 yards, 72 coming in a loss to St. Paul. In four games against City opponents, the Tigers have rushed for 906 yards.

San Fernando’s best offensive outing of the year--actually, several years--came in last week’s 27-7 defeat of Taft. According to Coach Tom Hernandez, the Tigers rushed for 304 yards, their highest total since 1983, when former Cal star Chris Richards was starting for San Fernando.

Defense: The Newbury Park-Thousand Oaks game Nov. 9 appears as though it will be for the Marmonte League title, and the defenses will be in the spotlight. Thousand Oaks, which has four shutouts, has allowed an average of 6.8 points a game. Newbury Park, with three shutouts, is giving up 6.9 points a game.

Granada Hills has allowed only 53 points in seven games and has not allowed more than one touchdown in a game since its 17-14 defeat of Westchester in the opener.

The Highlanders also have put the brakes to the opposition’s running game. Only one team has rushed for more than 100 yards against Granada Hills; Taft managed 163 yards in a 34-7 loss, much of the yardage against a second-team defense. No player has rushed for 100 yards against the Highlanders, who have allowed an average of 68.7 yards a game on the ground.

After allowing 80 points in its 0-3 start, San Fernando has yielded 16 points to four West Valley League opponents.

Offense: Agoura, traditionally known for its stern defense rather than a run-it-up offense, has averaged better than 31 points in its past five games. . . . Granada Hills is averaging 328.2 yards a game, second only to Montclair Prep (333.1) among Valley-area teams. Granada Hills, however, has had ideal balance--the Highlanders have passed for 1,058 yards and rushed for 1,240 in seven games. Montclair Prep has passed for 118 yards in eight games.

Extra points: In its past 26 Marmonte League games, dating to 1985, Thousand Oaks is 23-2-1. . . . Hart’s John DePaco scored on interceptions returns of 70 and 21 yards Friday night against Burbank. He has six interceptions this season.

VALLEY FOOTBALL TOP 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Granada Hills Nth. Valley 7-0 2 2 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 7-0-1 3 3 Hart Foothill 7-1 4 4 Canyon Golden 4-3-1 5 5 Crespi Del Rey 5-3 6 6 Montclair Prep Alpha 8-0 7 7 Notre Dame S.F. Valley 7-1 8 9 Chaminade S.F. Valley 6-2 9 10 Grant E. Valley 7-0 10 NR San Fernando Nth. Valley 4-3

NR--Not ranked.