UPSET SPECIAL

On paper, it resembled a football mismatch. Carson High was 11-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today. Its defense had 69 sacks, led by one of the state’s most prolific players, linebacker Arnold Ale.

The challenger was Granada Hills and its unimposing 8-3 record. Two months earlier, Carson had beaten Granada Hills, 42-14.

This time, Granada Hills pulled off one of the biggest upsets in City Section championship history.

It happened 10 years ago, on Dec. 18, 1987, at East Los Angeles College. Quarterback Jeremy Leach threw three touchdown passes and the Highlanders intercepted four passes in a stunning 27-14 victory in the 4-A Division game.

The lessons learned on that fateful night serve as a reminder for this year’s playoff participants to never underestimate an underdog.

Taft Coach Troy Starr was then a 24-year-old first-year assistant coach at Carson. He saw trouble brewing before the game.

“Our guys literally disrespected them,” Starr said. “If you want to get upset, overestimate yourself or underestimate your opponent. If you do one, there’s a good chance you’ll get upset. If you do both, it’s a guarantee.”

On the first play of the game, Carson running back Errol Sapp ran 65 yards. Nothing could have been worse for the Colts. Sapp soon scored a touchdown, strengthening Carson’s erroneous impression that Granada Hils would be a pushover.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a bunch of guys more confident,” Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh said of his players.

Sure enough, the Highlanders ignored their shaky start and began to punish the Colts. Offensive coordinator Tom Harp and line coach Bill Lake had spent hours with Leach and the offensive line reviewing game film from the first meeting trying to find ways to avoid the Colts’ relentless pass rush.

“The ability to throw was the key,” Harp said. “To beat somebody bigger and faster, you had to throw the ball.”

Leach was sacked seven times, the same total as the previous meeting. But the line blocked well enough when it counted. Leach, operating out of the shotgun formation, threw touchdown passes of 16 yards to tight end Sean Brown and 25 yards to wide receiver Kyle Jan for a 14-6 Granada Hills halftime lead.

Carson quarterback George Malauulu faced his own ferocious pass rush. He finished 10 of 21 for 126 yards with three passes intercepted. After a scoreless third quarter, Darryl Stephenson caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Leach for a 21-6 lead and 35 seconds later, safety Kevin Carmichael returned an interception 30 yards for a 27-6 advantage. Jan ended up with two interceptions.

Big, bad Carson was about to fall.

“I remember walking over to Jan and asking, ‘Can you believe this?’ ” Stroh said. “One of my assistants, Walt Seymour, wanted to come over and shake my hand with 30 seconds left. I didn’t want to. There’s no way they could win, but you still felt like you didn’t feel safe.”

Afterward, Granada Hills players and coaches were trying to comprehend their achievement. They had become the first San Fernando Valley team to win a City 4-A football title since San Fernando in 1975.

“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Carmichael said. “Every once in a while, I put in a highlight tape and I still don’t believe it. We had more people waiting at Granada Hills than we had at the game. All of a sudden, we had believers.”

“I was in shock,” Leach said. “It’s still a total clouded memory. I wish I could go back and soak it up.”

“We had a lot of guys play their best ballgames,” Stroh said.

“They had a mental edge,” Starr said. “They were not intimidated.”

Carmichael said Granada Hills’ season turned around weeks before, when the team was 2-3. He remembers the coaching staff forcing the players to run 20 110-yard sprints.

“It was the most I’ve ever run in my life,” he said. “We didn’t lose again. I don’t know if it was a cure. Afterward, you thought, ‘Do I really want to play football?’ We didn’t want to lose anymore because we didn’t know what would happen next.”

Leach said he learned the impact a coach can make.

“It was almost impossible to think we could go in and beat them, but somehow, Stroh did it,” he said. “He had us, by the time we walked onto the field, thinking they were just another team. But in terms of talent and speed, they were the best team out there.

“It just proved to me a coach can make a huge difference in the outcome of a game. He might not be on the field making tackles, but our team was so prepared. Stroh always said, ‘Defense wins championships.’ I didn’t believe him until I saw it.”

As it turned out, Granada Hills wasn’t lacking in talent, either. Leach was chosen the City 4-A player of the year and went on to set passing records at New Mexico. Carmichael attended Bethune Cookman before transferring to Cal State Northridge. Running back Jamal Farmer went to Hawaii. Jan attended Arizona. Brown started at tight end for Colorado.

At New Mexico, former Carson linebacker Rick Tiedemann was a teammate of Leach. The two talked about the City final.

“He said they knew they were going to win,” Leach recalled. “He said jackets were ordered, the parade was already set up.”

But it was Granada Hills players who ended up with the championship ring.

Today, Leach lives in Granada Hills with his wife and two young children. He owns a business that consults with studios and production companies. He has a 7-month-old boy who might someday become a quarterback.

“I think I’m in the Kennedy district,” he said. “I might have to move.”

Stroh retired from coaching last year. Harp left the football program in 1994 but has continued as a successful boys’ volleyball and girls’ soccer coach.

“It was a real special game, being that much of an underdog,” Stroh said. “It’s something we’ll remember forever.”

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PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Three players helped carry Granada Hills to victory in the 1987 City Section 4-A Division football championship game. Here are their numbers:

JEREMY LEACH

Quarterback

* 15 of 26 passing for 185 yards and three touchdowns.

*

KYLE JAN

Wide Receiver

* Seven receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown, and two interceptions.

*

KEVIN

CARMICHAEL

Defensive Back

* 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.