North Hollywood tops Granada Hills for school’s first ever Division 1 playoff victory

NORTH HOLLYWOOD –  In Friday night’s CIF Los Angeles City Section Division 1 first-round matchup fourth-seeded North Hollywood High’s football team ran past visiting Granada Hills 36-30 in history-making fashion.

The win marked the first time in school history the Huskies (11-0) won a sectional game in Division 1.

“I want to cry right now,” said North Hollywood coach Scott Faer. “This feels unbelievable. Everybody doubted us because we’ve never been in the Division 1 bracket. I’ve got all the faith in the world in these guys. They just fight day in and day out and always find a win to win.”

On the game’s opening drive, North Hollywood showed the Highlanders what they could expect all night.

The Huskies ran 10 plays and took 6:05 off the clock before Daylan Garcia capped the drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown.

Their second drive provided more of the same, with the Huskies taking another 6:46 off the clock on a 15-play drive that ended with Omar Muhammed breaking off a 19-yard touchdown run.

Four of their five touchdowns came on drives that lasted at least 5:53. The other saw them take over with less than a minute left in the first half. Two passes and just 16 seconds later senior quarterback Nate Arlauskas connected with classmate Kelley Warburton for a 38-yard score. It marked the second time in the contest Warburton had a 38-yard receiving touchdown.

Garcia added a second-half touchdown at the end of an 18-play drive that took more than nine minutes off the clock. In addition to his two scores, Garcia also racked up 121 rushing yards in the win.

“We’re a running offense,” said Arlauskas. “The O-line does a great job blocking out there. We were missing two of our other running backs this week but those guys always pull it together.”

The impressive play of Granada Hills quarterback Daniel Battaglia kept the game close. Battaglia racked up a whopping 252 rushing yards on 17 attempts and scored all four Highlander touchdowns, with two of them coming from at least 60 yards away.

“He’s got my vote for first-team All-City,” said Faer. “That is a stud.”

With the win North Hollywood advances to a quarterfinals matchup next Friday where they’ll host No. 5 Palisades.