Granada Hills Trio to Meet Familiar Foe

He knows the names.

He knows their games.

And every time Dorsey High football co-Coach Paul Knox ponders what could have been, he cringes.

Brett Washington, Derrick Stewart and Robert Haywood are three players who live in the Dorsey attendance area and are bused to school at Granada Hills, which faces Dorsey tonight at 8 at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.

“I know Brett real well,” said Knox, who handles the Dorsey offense. “He played in passing league with us before his sophomore year. I know Derrick and Haywood from around the area.”

Don’t flood the tear ducts just yet, because Dorsey did just fine last season without its home-grown trio. The Dons defeated Carson to win the City Section 4-A Division title, but Knox knows that having those three around this year certainly would have helped Dorsey’s chances to repeat.

“It kills me every time I think about it,” Knox said.

Seniors Washington, Stewart and Haywood are in their third seasons as starters for Granada Hills (1-0), which is ranked No. 1 in the Valley by The Times and No. 8 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

In last week’s 26-10 defeat of Lynwood, Washington rushed for 145 yards in 14 carries and tied a school record with an 89-yard run. Stewart, a Times All-Valley safety, rushed for 52 yards in 10 carries in his first start at tailback. Haywood, an all-league defensive back, caught one pass for 21 yards in his first start at tight end and also intercepted a pass.

Dorsey (1-0) hammered Manual Arts, 36-0, last week behind 133 rushing yards from senior tailback Lamont Warren, the 1989 4-A player of the year. Warren caught an 81-yard scoring pass from quarterback Ronald Peebles.

Peebles, a receiver last season, completed five of eight passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

“Dorsey’s big, fast and their running backs are excellent,” Granada Hills co-Coach Tom Harp said. “Dorsey should have a better passing attack than Lynwood. It looks like a pretty even game.”

Stopping Granada Hills quarterback Bryan Martin, who completed 17 of 22 for 166 yards and two touchdowns last week, might prove difficult. Martin scattered his 17 completions among seven different receivers and should have another option in starting receiver Eric Moss, who was sidelined last week because of a sore shoulder but is expected to play tonight.