Granada Hills Hangs Onto No. 2 Spot After Hanging Up Gardena

Coach Darryl Stroh had thought it ridiculous that his football team was ranked so high last week.

The Times had ranked the Highlanders No. 2 in the Valley. Even though his team was undefeated, Stroh thought Granada Hills would come down to earth against powerful Gardena (2-1 and ranked No. 2 in the City coming into the game).

So what happened?

The Highlanders (5-0) upset the Mohicans, 7-6, to maintain their No. 2 ranking.

The No. 1 team is Canyon, as it has been for the last year and a half. The Cowboys won their 29th straight game, 35-0 over Crespi. The Celts, who went into the game rated No. 4, fell to seventh.

Alemany remained third with its fourth shutout, 40-0 over South Pasadena. Taft jumped from No. 8 to No. 4 with a 33-14 win over Franklin. Taft is 3-1, its only loss coming against Kennedy.

Kennedy was ranked No. 5 but fell out of the Top 10 after being blown out by Banning, 49-6.

Thousand Oaks, which defeated Rolling Hills, 35-14, moved into the No. 5 spot.

San Fernando stayed at No. 6 despite losing to Carson, 20-9. Carson is the top-ranked team in the City and the defending City 4-A champion.

Simi Valley is No. 8 after defeating Newbury Park, 10-7. The loss knocked the Panthers, who had been No. 7, out of the Top 10.

No. 9 Westlake returned to the Top 10 after defeating Royal, 60-0.

Canoga Park moved into No. 10 by beating Hamilton, 17-15, and Calabasas fell out of the Top 10 with a 31-6 loss to Chaminade.

The Valley Top 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Rank Last Week Team League Record 1 1 Canyon Golden 5-0 2 2 Granada Hills Valley 4-A 4-0 3 3 Alemany Del Rey 5-0 4 8 Taft Sunset 3-1 5 9 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 3-2 6 6 San Fernando Valley 4-A 2-2 7 4 Crespi Del Rey 4-1 8 NR Simi Valley Marmonte 4-1 9 NR Westlake Marmonte 3-2 10 NR Canoga Park Sunset 3-1