Kyle’s Clutch Play Kept Granada Hills Out of Carson’s Clutches : Football: Junior tailback set off fireworks with his timely running in Highlanders’ upset victory.

Cheerleaders squealed, young fans stood and stared, and adults rushed toward the field as everyone’s attention was instantly captured.

Raheem Kyle was stationed near the goal line, awaiting a fourth-quarter kickoff, when he remembers hearing the commotion. The hubbub had nothing to do with what was taking place on the field, namely Granada Hills High’s bid to upset Carson.

Instead, the focus of attention was directed toward the Granada Hills stands where a large firecracker had just exploded with a notable wallop. Smoke billowed from under the seats.

A handful of fans, unsure of what had happened, scrambled from their seats. Coaches turned to investigate. Players instinctively ducked. Kyle looked over from his position on the field.

“Whatever it was, it was big,” Kyle said.

For Kyle, the Highlanders’ junior tailback, it signaled the start of a whole new contest, one that would conclude with a considerable report.

Thereafter, everything Kyle did was big. Before the final gun sounded, Kyle had rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns in 21 carries to lead Granada Hills to an improbable upset of Carson, 29-18. But it was Kyle’s play in the fourth quarter that refocused everyone’s attention.

Moments before the fireworks exploded--off the field, that is--Carson scored to pare the Granada Hills lead to 21-18 with 5 minutes 51 seconds to play. As Kyle and teammate John Moss stood nervously near the goal line, Carson tried an onside kick, which the Highlanders recovered at the Granada Hills 48.

The Highlander goal was simple: Kill the clock by moving the chains. The Carson goal was more obvious: Prevent Granada Hills from rolling up first downs by stopping Kyle.

On the opening play of the drive, Kyle ran for nine yards to set up a first-down dive inside by Faio Emelio. Two pitches to Kyle went nowhere and a five-yard procedure penalty put Granada Hills in a third-and-19 situation at the 44.

“I knew I had to get (the first down) or the touchdown,” Kyle said. “If I didn’t get it then, then on the next one.”

In the biggest play of the game to that point, Kyle scooted around left end for 19 yards, breaking several tackles as he raced up the sideline with two minutes to play.

Two failed running plays and a delay-of-game penalty set up third and 16 at the 35. The plan was to run one more play, take another penalty for delay of game, then punt with less than a minute remaining.

Yet before Granada Hills would put the ball in Carson’s hands, it would place it in Kyle’s one more time. Kyle took a pitch around left end and scored from 35 yards with 1:15 left to jolt the Colts.

“It was, like, excitement,” said Kyle, who might have taken more blows from his backslapping teammates in the seconds that followed than he did all game from Carson.

It could prove to be a watershed performance by Kyle (5-foot-7, 160 pounds), who was not supposed to be a starter. Kyle played last season on the B team and was expected to play behind Earl Andrews, who rushed for 284 yards as a backup in 1990. Andrews, however, is attending continuation school.

Kyle remains a wild card to some.

“I don’t know too much about him,” Granada Hills co-Coach Darryl Stroh said. “He appears to be relatively durable. His best element is his quickness, in addition to being fast.”

Kyle certainly adds a new look to the rebuilt Highlander offense. With just three starters back from a season ago, Granada Hills lost two impact players from the offensive backfield alone in quarterback Bryan Martin (6-2, 180) and running back Brett Washington (5-10, 230), the school’s career rushing leader.

Kyle and quarterback Edgar Vasquez (5-8, 155) unquestionably break the mold of their predecessors. Kyle especially.

“He’s not like the others,” said co-Coach Tom Harp, who runs the offense. “When you go back through the years, you think of Washington, Khalid Ali, Jamal Farmer and Marrio Walker. All of those guys were around 190 (pounds) and up.”

Most of those names, right out of the Highlander record book, would not ring a bell with Kyle, who moved to the Valley from Long Beach as a freshman. That doesn’t mean Kyle wasn’t at least somewhat aware of the Highlander tradition. Kyle, who lives in Lake View Terrace, is bused to Granada Hills by choice.

“I had heard about the football program,” said Kyle, whose uncle, David Howard, is a linebacker with the New Orleans Saints. “I heard it was good. I’m not even sure what my home school is.”

Some more history: Friday night marked the second-biggest performance by a player named Kyle in the second-biggest Highlander upset of Carson. In 1987, Granada Hills shocked nationally ranked Carson, 27-14, in the City Section 4-A Division final. Kyle Jan, a receiver and defensive back for the Highlanders, was selected the player of the game. It is considered by some to be the biggest upset in Valley high school football history.

But then, Kyle should know that by now too. Last week, Stroh and Harp showed the film of the 1987 game to Kyle and his teammates. “We all got pumped up when we watched that and saw we could beat them,” Kyle said. “We came out and knew in our hearts that we could beat them.”

Just as important, Kyle knew it in his soles. His fancy footwork in crunch time held off Carson.

“He’s been a surprise,” Harp said. “A necessary surprise.”