North Hollywood’s Harlow Wings It

He is usually the overlooked second back in North Hollywood High’s double-wing backfield, but David Harlow stepped out of the shadow of teammate Dante Clay on Friday to help the visiting Huskies to a 24-14 victory over Grant in a Valley Pac-8 Conference opener.

Clay rushed for a game-high 97 yards in 17 carries for North Hollywood (2-2), but Harlow rushed for 77 yards in 14 carries and scored the Huskies’ first two touchdowns on runs of one and 45 yards.

“I wanted to run Dante 30 times, but he couldn’t get untracked,” North Hollywood Coach Gary Gray said. “They did a good job defending Dante, so I decided to go more to David.”

Clay, who rushed for 620 yards in the first three games, had a 50-yard run in the third quarter to highlight North Hollywood’s third--and final--touchdown drive, but Grant kept him in check for most of the game.

“They were quicker at getting to the holes than we thought they’d be,” Gray said. “I don’t think they did anything special.”

Harlow’s 45-yard touchdown, and Clay’s two-point conversion run--gave the Huskies a 16-0 lead early in the third quarter, but Grant countered quickly.

Mario Ramirez scored on a 73-yard run three plays later and Luis Escamilla followed with a two-point conversion run.

Clay had his 50-yard run on North Hollywood’s next series, scoring on a one-yard plunge two plays later. James Gomez’ two-point conversion run gave the Huskies a 24-8 lead.

North Hollywood intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble on Grant’s next three possessions before the Lancers (1-3) scored on a 20-yard pass play from Lawrence Monroy to Olando Enoex with 5:33 remaining.

Monroy completed 12 of 25 passes for 202 yards, but he was intercepted three times as Grant committed five turnovers.