VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : Granada Hills Almost Hiccups

GRANADA HILLS —  Let there be no doubt that senior running back Matthew Hicks of North Hollywood High is the real deal.

Punishing the defense with power running, Hicks rushed for 181 yards in 29 carries and scored three touchdowns to help the Huskies give Granada Hills a scare before losing, 28-22, Thursday night.

North Hollywood unveiled its new double-wing offense, a formation it hasn’t used since 1995, when Dante Clay rushed for more than 2,000 yards.

The Highlanders weren’t prepared. They missed tackles, didn’t handle reverses and hardly looked like the team that went 12-1 a year ago.

“We missed more tackles tonight than we missed all last year,” an angry co-Coach Darryl Stroh of Granada Hills said.

North Hollywood ran the ball 61 times and passed only three times. During a 72-yard, 23-play drive in the fourth quarter that consumed close to 10 minutes, the Huskies converted four times on fourth down.

“Without a doubt, this team should get its credit,” Coach Jason Garrison of North Hollywood said.

Granada Hills was able to win because of a decisive defensive surge with 25 seconds left in the third quarter that stopped Hicks on fourth down from the North Hollywood 43.

Two plays later, junior receiver Joey Rodriguez caught a middle screen pass from Jason Winn and raced 44 yards for the touchdown and a 28-14 lead.

It was an impressive debut for Rodriguez, Granada Hills’ top offensive player on the freshman-sophomore team last season. He had four receptions for 114 yards.

Winn completed nine of 15 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, but he was only two of six for 67 yards in the second half.

The Highlanders committed three personal fouls on defense and had several bad center snaps on offense.

Hicks ran hard from start to finish. He’s 5 feet 11, 200 pounds and is coming off a season in which he rushed for more than 1,200 yards in seven starts.

“He worked his butt off all summer,” Garrison said. “He’s running people over.”

North Hollywood rushed for 297 yards against a defense that was one of the region’s best last season.