Martin Stirs Fond Memories at Granada Hills

The physical similarities between the two quarterbacks are few. Sure, both Jeremy Leach and Bryan Martin have blond hair and a slingshot for a right arm, but Leach is an inch taller and 45 pounds heavier than Martin, who is a lanky 6-foot-2 and weighs 175 pounds.

Martin’s accomplishments on the field as a junior, however, closely resemble those of Leach, the former All-City Section player who led the Highlanders to the 4-A Division title as a senior in 1987.

Leach, who transferred to Granada Hills from L. A. Baptist after his sophomore season, completed 114 of 198 passes (57.6%) for 1,325 yards and 14 touchdowns in 11 games in his junior season. He threw three interceptions.

Martin, who transferred to Granada Hills after his sophomore year at MacArthur High in Decatur, Ill., has completed 74 of 140 (52.9%) for 1,022 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games. He has thrown two interceptions.

Leach, a two-year starter at New Mexico, passed for 622 yards last week against Utah.

Add passing: Tim Beidle and interceptions went together like a helmet and shoulder pads for the first half of the season. After six games Beidle, a senior quarterback for Canyon High, had connected with the wrong-colored jersey 10 times--most among Valley-area quarterbacks.

But lately, Beidle has put a stop to that tendency. He has not thrown an interception in the past four games and has thrown 71 passes without one being picked off.

“He’s a tough kid and he’s cool under pressure,” Coach Harry Welch said. “And he’s underrated. (College recruiters) aren’t looking at him because he’s short.”

Beidle, who is 5-10, 160 pounds, has completed 121 of 218 for 1,699 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Offense: Oak Park’s Kent Richter set three school records last week in a 34-8 victory over St. Bonaventure. Richter rushed for 221 yards, eclipsing the mark of 217 yards set by Erik Affholter in 1983. He finished the season with 1,178 yards rushing and also set school records by scoring 15 touchdowns in a season and running 93 yards for one score.

The touted tandem of Derek Sparks and Michael Jones lived up to expectations. Sparks gained 1,603 yards and scored 29 rushing touchdowns. Jones gained 1,360 yards and scored 17 rushing touchdowns. Montclair Prep finished with 3,110 rushing yards and 122 passing yards. The passing yardage accounted for 3% of the Mountie offense.

Defense: Alemany did not allow a point in the second half of its last three games against Loyola, St. Francis and St. John Bosco. In the opening halves of those games, however, the Indians scored just 13 points. . . . In Thousand Oaks’ 21-0 win over Newbury Park, the Lancers’ fifth shutout of the season, the Panthers’ offense crossed Thousand Oaks’ 40-yard line twice and the Lancers’ 30 once.

Extra points: In five of its seven losses, Royal led at halftime. . . . Thousand Oaks has qualified for the playoffs 17 times in the past 28 years.