Over Achievers

* With the return of co-coaches Tom Harp and Darryl Stroh, Granada Hills was expected to improve this season.

But not this much. The Highlanders, 3-27 the previous three seasons, are 5-0.

Some of the credit goes to an influx of new players, but get this: Two of the team’s stalwarts, receiver Peter Gunny and running back Triston Frazier, were in the same roles last season when Granada Hills finished 1-9.

* More teams, more pleasant surprises: Nobody is saying Van Nuys will challenge Sylmar for the Valley Pac-8 Conference championship, but the Wolves have shown some bite. Van Nuys is 4-1.

At Harvard-Westlake, a 5-0 start isn’t unusual in basketball. It is for the football team.

Moorpark has a Ventura County-record 18-game winning streak. The Musketeers, in their first Division IV campaign, have also proven that they will survive in the Marmonte League. They’ve outscored their first two league opponents, 61-24.

Santa Clara is 3-2 and likely to be playoff bound. The Saints haven’t won three games in a season since 1991 and haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 1990.

* Kennedy is off to a 4-1 start thanks in part to Ruben Zaragoza, the Golden Cougars’ 5-foot-9 quarterback. Zaragoza has completed 60% of his passes and went 127 attempts without having a pass intercepted.

* Russell Patton of Channel Islands and Jason Young of Hoover have grabbed headlines despite lugging the ball for losing teams.

Patton, a converted receiver, has rushed for 833 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season as a running back.

Young had just 189 rushing yards last year as a junior. He has rushed for 779 yards and seven touchdowns.