Granada Hills Overachieves

Completing a remarkable turnaround in going from last to first in a year, Granada Hills High pulled out a 17-10 Northwest Valley Conference overtime thriller Friday night over Taft when David Doetzel batted down a pass intended for Lawrence Wallace in the back of the end zone on the game’s final play, launching a wild Highlander victory celebration.

“It’s unbelievable, really unbelievable,” said Highlander receiver Josh Brandon, who caught a career-high 10 passes for 179 yards.

“It’s the most amazing feeling,” offensive tackle Jory Goldberg said of finishing the regular season 10-0 after the team went 1-9 in ’97. “We’ve all waited for this moment. What got us here was heart and perseverance.”

The stands were filled as people wondered whether Taft’s 21-game conference winning streak would really be threatened by a team that had come out of nowhere since the return of co-coaches Darryl Stroh and Tom Harp.

Granada Hills opened a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Taft closed to 10-3 at halftime, then tied it with 5:39 left in the third quarter on Brandon Hance’s 11-yard pass to K.C. Bounds. The rest of the game featured hard-hitting defense until the decisive overtime period.

Doetzel and teammate Peter Gunny sat on the ground in the end zone in stunned silence after the final play, their helmets facing each other as players and fans converged on the field.

It was Gunny’s four-yard touchdown reception from Jason Winn on the second play of overtime that provided the winning points and gave Granada Hills the conference title.

Taft (8-2, 6-1) was hurt in overtime by a roughing-the-kicker penalty. The ball usually is placed on the 10-yard line, and each team gets four plays to score. Because of the 15-yard penalty, Taft had to start on its 25 and couldn’t recover.

To pull off the upset, Granada Hills did exactly what you have to do against Taft--deny the big play. Tailback Marquis Brignac rushed for 100 yards in 22 carries, but his longest run was 20 yards. The super-quick Wallace, facing punishing hits from cornerback Brandon and strong safety Gerald Jones, caught 11 passes for 69 yards, with his longest reception just 13 yards.

“I didn’t sleep last night because our defense looked so bad in practice,” Stroh said. “But tonight they played awesome. I don’t know if it gets any better than this. Everybody has been trashing City football. I feel sorry for anybody who missed this. Both teams played great.”

With Granada Hills unable to run, Winn took to the air. He completed 21 of 39 for 272 yards.

Gunny and Jones each had interceptions against Hance, who completed 15 of 31 passes for 122 yards.

MORE COVERAGE

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* Football Spotlight

* Hart 48, Canyon 10

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* Alemany 20, St. Francis 14

* Arcadia 15, Crescenta Valley 13

* Southern Section Roundup

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* City Section Roundup

* Ventura County Roundup

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* College Game Day

* Aaron Arnold Profile

* This Week in the Big Sky

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* High School Summaries