GRANADA HILLS — The Granada Hills High football team defeated El Camino Real, 30-2, in front of a packed homecoming crowd on Friday night. The Highlanders were strong in all three facets of the game and have sole possession of second place in the West Valley League behind first-place Birmingham going into the last week of the regular season.
“It’s always good to win, especially with all the festivities for homecoming,” Granada Hills coach Bucky Brooks said. “Our performance was up and down, but we did a good job of finding plays when we needed to find plays.”
The Granada Hills defense and special teams got off to a fast start, as ECR quarterback Kevin Hawkins completed only four of his first 14 passes and was sacked twice before halftime. Granada Hills’ special teams unit forced the ECR punter to fall on a ball that gave Granada the ball at the ECR 34-yard line. Kanye Martin blocked the Royals’ next punt, giving his team the ball at the ECR 1-yard line.
Granada Hills (6-2-1 overall, 3-1 WVL) was able to capitalize on both of those short-field possessions and turned them into a 16-0 lead in the second quarter. The first Highlander score came on a 3-yard touchdown run from Pierre O’Bannon, then Darrell Stanley added a 1-yard touchdown run after the Martin punt block.
Stanley paced the Granada Hills offense, rushing for 74 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, with his second score coming on a 7-yard run that extended the lead to 22-0 in the second quarter. Nasir Enilolobo added 71 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
“When Coach calls those plays in the red zone I know I just gotta get my nose dirty, get behind the front and get in the end zone,” Stanley said.
The Granada Hills defense was strong throughout, finishing with six sacks and a pair of crucial fourth-down stops in the second half. The defensive line pressured ECR (3-6, 2-2) all night, batting down several passes and denying the running game. The Highlanders’ defensive line was led by John Williamson and Oliver Taylor who each had two sacks.
“It’s the practice and the coaching that prepare us for these scenarios in game,” Taylor said. “We practice these things repeatedly and it feels good to see them come together in the game.”
Granada Hills’ offense struggled a bit after halftime, scoring just eight more points and allowing a safety. The only Granada Hills score of the second half came on a 50-yard touchdown run from Enilolobo. Three consecutive drives in the third quarter ended on lost fumbles and the safety caused by ECR’s Javan Kaggwa.
The Royals’ offense did not capitalize on the Granada mistakes. ECR strung together a pair of nice drives in the second half, but both were stopped on fourth-and-goal opportunities.
El Camino quarterback Kevin Hawkins finished the game 16 of 40 for 178 yards. Jaylen Sanders had three catches for 62 yards and Jake Shirley had seven catches for 55 yards.
“The defense I thought was on point tonight,” ECR coach Jason Sabolic said. “I thought it could’ve been a different ballgame but we just gotta find a way to score points.”
Granada Hills will host Chatsworth next week in its regular-season finale. ECR will face Cleveland in its season finale next week.