Alemany No Match for Granada Hills

For years, Alemany and Granada Hills high schools have sat within blocks of each other, a football rivalry waiting to happen.

Friday night in Granada Hills, they finally got together on the football field. Round one goes to the guys from the City Section.

Granada Hills defeated its rival, 33-14.

Granada Hills, a public City Section school, used an impressive ground attack to salt away the contest. The Highlanders rushed for 296 yards en route to 443 yards in total offense.

Khalid Ali rushed for 99 yards, Mike Davis ran for 90 yards and Jamaal Farmer added 64. Ali scored a pair of touchdowns, covering 15 and 31 yards.

Junior transfer Jeremy Leach also had a big night for Granada Hills, completing nine of 13 passes for 147 yards and one touchdown.

Farmer gathered in two of the aerials for 82 yards. He scored the Highlanders’ final touchdown in the fourth period on a 63-yard swing pass.

Granada Hills gained 202 yards in the first half--170 on the ground--and built a 19-7 lead on rushing touchdowns by Ali (15 yards), Davis (9 yards) and Farmer (4 yards).

Alemany, a private Southern Section school, got on the scoreboard when Nick Napolitan, nursing a bruised shoulder, replaced starter Roy Talavera at quarterback late in the second period. He completed his first three passes--all to Ray Morris--the last going 41 yards for a touchdown.

Morris had a big night, catching seven passes for 127 yards.

The Highlanders (1-0) put two more touchdowns on the board in the fourth period--Ali’s 31-yard run and Farmer’s 63-yard reception and run.

The Indians scored again with 12 seconds to play, Napolitan hitting Talavera on a 21-yard play.

Napolitan completed 10 of 15 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

The Indians, who were shut out by Harvard, 6-0, in their opener last week, never did establish their ground game, finishing with 67 yards rushing.

The teams are scheduled to renew the rivalry again next year at Alemany. Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh is looking forward to playing Alemany for many seasons to come.

“It’s a natural,� Stroh said. “I think it would be really good for the community.�

The Indians (0-2) finished with 263 total yards.

Talavera, in his abbreviated stint, completed just two of six passes for 30 yards.

Alemany coach Enrique Lopez was happy to finally add the Highlanders to his schedule.

“Granada Hills always has a classy team, so that’s why we scheduled them,� Lopez said.