Uninspired Granada Hills Unable to Generate Offense in 14-7 Loss

It wasn’t exactly a night for a family outing. And it certainly proved to be no picnic.

Yet there was Granada Hills High co-Coach Darryl Stroh on the sidelines Friday night, with wife Judy working on the chain crew and son Darryl watching from nearby.

“The football team didn’t want to come,” Stroh said. “So I brought my family.”

It was the equivalent of ants and rain ruining the barbecue.

Granada Hills played its sloppiest game in several weeks and was defeated by Marshall, 14-7, in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs at Granada Hills.

Granada Hills (6-5) struggled throughout, managing just 148 yards in offense, and its ground attack was completely shut down, finishing with 59 yards.

“We earned it,” Stroh said. “We saved our worst for last.”

Marshall (9-2) threw a variety of defensive fronts at the Highlanders, who didn’t come close to solving any of them. Tailback Tremain Foriest finished with 36 yards in 17 carries and fullback Faio Emelio was held to 23 in six. “They did a good job with their stunts,” co-Coach Tom Harp said. “The offensive line was definitely having trouble.”

Marshall took a 14-7 lead with 3 minutes 49 seconds left in the third quarter on a five-yard pass from Shane Gerard to sophomore Jeff Soto. Thereafter, the teams switched modes: Granada Hills went to the air and Marshall worked the clock on the ground.

The Highlanders’ biggest blunder came shortly thereafter, but it wasn’t the offense that made it. On the third play of the fourth quarter, Gerard was hammered in the pocket and the ball was intercepted by defensive tackle Greg Melikyan, who lumbered 70 yards for an apparent touchdown. The play was nullified by a clipping call, however.

Granada Hills had one last shot, driving to the Marshall 29 with under a minute remaining, but quarterback Jim Landress’ second-down pass was intercepted by Aman Abye with eight seconds to play. Landress completed 10 of a career-high 33 passes for 92 yards and threw two interceptions.

Abye, a wingback-defensive back, was also the Marshall man of the moment offensively, finishing with 143 yards in 19 carries.

Granada Hills managed only seven points despite three Marshall turnovers committed in Barrister territory in the first half alone. In the half, three consecutive Highlander drives stalled in Marshall territory, two inside the 30-yard line.

Granada Hills finally moved on top, 7-0, on their fifth possession. Linebacker Sebastian Ruiz gave the Highlanders solid field position when he intercepted a pass that was deflected and returned it 13 yards to the Marshall 29. Landress gained 12 yards on an option keeper and tossed a 13-yard pass to set up a one-yard scoring run by Foriest with 7:35 left in the half.

Marshall tied the score when Gerard scored on a one-yard sneak with 5:22 left in the half.