Clay Clears the Way for Huskies, 28-17

North Hollywood High’s Dante Clay makes the most of whatever he is given.

Give him an inch, he’ll take a yard. Give him an arm tackle, he’ll take a touchdown.

Such was the case Wednesday night in North Hollywood’s 28-17 victory over top-seeded Canoga Park in the quarterfinals of the City Section 3-A Division football playoffs at Canoga Park.

Clay, who scored on an 80-yard run the first time he touched the ball Wednesday, was held in check after the big run in the first half with 90 yards in eight carries.

But he had running room in the second half, when the Husky coaches junked their double-tight end formation in favor of spreading Clay out as a flanker, along with a wide receiver, to stop Canoga Park from using nine- and 10-man defensive fronts.

“We went with two wideouts to open up the running lanes,” North Hollywood Coach Gary Gray said.

Open them, indeed. Clay rushed for 113 of his 203 yards in the second half and helped North Hollywood score 20 unanswered points to overcome a nine-point deficit. North Hollywood (7-5), which lost to Canoga Park, 14-8, in Valley Pac-8 Conference play, will play Wilson (8-4), a 37-20 winner over Locke, in the semifinals Dec. 6.

“Yeah, that worked fine,” Clay said.

North Hollywood, which trailed, 10-8, at halftime, failed to take possession of the second-half kickoff, allowing Canoga Park’s Juan Carpio to recover the ball at the Husky 30. Two plays later, Quantee Stansberry scored on a 27-yard run for a 17-8 Canoga Park lead.

North Hollywood answered with a 12-play, 65-yard drive, culminating with a 16-yard touchdown run by Clay to pull the Huskies within 17-14.

Canoga Park quarterback Brian Hickman, who was sacked six times, fumbled the snap on the first play of the ensuing series and Oscar Gonzalez recovered at the Hunter 29.

Four plays later, North Hollywood fullback Devon Rose ran untouched up the middle on a 14-yard touchdown run to give the Huskies’ their second lead of the game, 20-17.

The Huskies scored again on Rose’s 10-yard run and a two-point conversion run by quarterback Cameron Heflin for a 28-17 lead with 7:59 to play.