Granada Hills Struggles but Beats Reseda

The banner on the Reseda High side of the field, festooned in the neon colors of the 1990s, welcomed a neighbor back into the football fold Friday night for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

It read: “Hello, Granada.”

Added below, in small print, was, “Good luck!”

And the game? Neighborly it was not, even though the teams had not met since the late 1960s.

Granada Hills and Reseda slammed each other around defensively all night before Granada Hills hung stubborn Reseda out for good, 14-0, in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Granada Hills.

Granada Hills (4-1, 2-0 in conference play) struggled against an aggressive Reseda defense and managed just 204 yards overall. And while Reseda (2-2, 0-2) managed just 70 yards, it also shot itself in the foot with five turnovers.

“We beat ourselves on a couple of things,” Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer said. “They’re certainly not a super football team right now. . . . I don’t think that they were up for us, but that’s not our fault.”

The Highlander offense was faulty, to be sure. Senior quarterback Bryan Martin experienced his worst night of the season, completing just 11 of 39 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. Martin completed just one of his last 15 attempts for minus-one yard.

“That’s indicative of the entire evening,” Granada Hills co-Coach Tom Harp said. “Every play it seemed like there was a breakdown somewhere.”

Martin was sacked four times, twice by Reseda linebacker Tim Schaeffer, the coach’s son, who also intercepted a pass.

“They did some things up front that caused us some real problems,” Harp said.

Granada Hills running back Brett Washington rushed for 79 yards in 14 attempts and gave Granada Hills a 14-0 lead with a two-yard run with 10 minutes 48 seconds left.

The drive was set up when Granada Hills’ Derrick Stewart drilled Larry Trammel on a punt return, causing a fumble that was recovered by the Highlanders at the Granada Hills 27.

Granada Hills limited Reseda tailback Maurice Stepter to 39 yards in 15 carries and posted its second consecutive shutout.

Granada Hills defensive back John Moss intercepted his third pass of the season in the third quarter, one of three Highlander interceptions in the game.

The Highlander offense was thoroughly befuddled in the first half. Martin was sacked three times and the running game managed a mere 31 yards.

Granada Hills finally managed to score with eight seconds left in the half. The Highlanders took possession at their 31 with 1:20 left, and fullback Washington keyed the drive with a 32-yard run on a third-and-10 draw play.

Five plays later, Martin hit receiver Eric Moss in the left corner of the end zone for a 26-yard strike.

Moss, who badly beat Reseda defensive back Thomas Barr on the play, had dropped two passes earlier in the half.

The Reseda offense sputtered and coughed throughout the half, gaining 56 yards and generating just four first downs--one via penalty.