Granada Hills Is City 4-A Champion; Carson Falls, 27-14

Someone spoiled Carson High School’s coronation as the best team in City football, an event that has been taken for granted for weeks, maybe even months.

The Colts, looking for the last dance to complete their waltz through the schedule, instead found themselves on the receiving end of a slam dance, losing to Granada Hills, 27-14, Friday night.

The Highlanders, behind three touchdown passes by senior quarterback Jeremy Leach and a strong performance by their less-publicized defense, won the City 4-A championship before an estimated crowd of 4,000 at East Los Angeles College.

“I dreamt this twice this week,” said Carson quarterback George Malauulu, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 126 yards with 3 interceptions. “I didn’t pay any attention until tonight. And then it came true.”

Said Leach, who finished 15 of 26 for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions: “I’m not sure what happened on the other side. But maybe they got big-headed and started to celebrate early.”

Carson (11-1) had good reason to celebrate at the outset as Colt running back Errol Sapp took the handoff from Malauulu on the first play, headed left, saw a wall of defenders and spun around. A play that looked stopped for a loss instead turned into a big gain as Sapp broke up the middle and sprinted 65 yards to the Granada Hills five. Two plays later, Sapp dived over from the one to give Carson a 6-0 lead. Kicker Louis Perez missed the extra point.

Leach, operating out of the shotgun, connected with wide receiver Kyle Jan 5 times in the first half for 75 yards, including 3 gains of 19 yards or more. Tight end Sean Brown caught just one pass, but the 16-yard reception was good enough to put Granada Hills in the lead with 5:53 to play in the second quarter.

That’s when problems started for Carson defensive back Daryl Wilson, as Brown got behind him in the back of the end zone and made a leaping catch. Charles Fowlks kicked the extra point.

A little more than a minute later, Granada Hills went after Wilson, a 6-foot senior, again for the 14-6 lead at halftime. Leach’s pass in the end zone was short, but Wilson slipped a bit, and the 6-foot 4-inch Jan, using his height advantage, reached over Wilson for the 25-yard score.

“Sometimes you get in a mood where you feel you can do anything you want,” said Jan, who caught 7 passes for 93 yards.

Was tonight one of those times?

“Yeah,” he said. “I just knew it.”

Meanwhile, the Granada Hills defense was looking very, well, much like Carson was expected to look. The Highlanders, who had allowed just 15 points in their previous 4 games, swarmed Malauulu on almost every passing attempt while the secondary tied up the Colts’ speedy receivers.

Malauulu was 5 of 10 for 37 yards after two quarters, 2 of the completions good for only a yard each. And after his big run to open the game, Sapp had 29 yards in 9 carries.

After a scoreless third quarter, Granada Hills, which lost, 42-14, when the teams met in Week 4 of the regular season, stretched its lead to 21-6 when Leach hit wide receiver Darryl Stephenson with a 29-yard touchdown pass with 5:40 left in the game. Thirty-five seconds later, it was 27-6 as Frederick Gatlin, substituting for Malauulu on one play, had a pass intercepted by Kevin Carmichael, who returned it 30 yards untouched for the score.

Carson scored with 3:42 remaining. Malauulu hit Bryon Reeves with a 50-yard touchdown pass, and they hooked up for the two-point conversion, but the Colts couldn’t score again.

Malauulu saw his nightmare on the scoreboard, and Granada Hills (9-3) was on cloud nine.