Granada Hills Charter football routs North Hollywood in season opener

GRANADA HILLS — New seasons mean new opportunities, and Granada Hills Charter football seized them for all its worth.

The Highlanders opened the 2025 campaign at John Elway Stadium with a 50-16 victory over the North Hollywood Huskies. With explosive plays on both sides of the ball, Granada Hill’s (1-0) debut in head coach Bucky Brooks’ seventh season at the helm left the former National Football League running back pleased.

“It was a really good start,” Brooks said. “Our guys worked really hard over the offseason. We had a collective effort and had a bunch of different people touching the ball.”

Offensively, Brooks mixed up the rusher in his staple double wing formation, with many Highlanders having opportunities to take snaps in different situations. As is tradition, Granada Hills did not attempt a pass play throughout the contest, allowing their running game to grab the attention of the students, parents and faculty that filled the stands.

Early in the second quarter, on the Highlanders’ second drive and facing fourth down, Brooks called a timeout. Coming out of the huddle, senior running back Michael Osuma carried the ball, finding the edge down the left sideline. His efforts led to an 86-yard touchdown to tally up the score 15-10.

In the third quarter, Osuma’s rushing mate, senior running back Dean Rosales, made a 76-yard house call of his own. Both upperclassmen combined for five touchdowns in the contest and 203 rushing yards in the first half alone.

For Brooks, having a pairing like Osuma and Rosales goes a long way to implementing his team-first philosophy.

“(Osuna and Rosales) are two of the hardest workers that we have in the program,” Brooks said. “They’re unselfish, they don’t care who gets the credit, they’re two of the guys that represent what we want the program to be about.”

Brooks also used his timeouts efficiently when Granada played defense. After seeing North Hollywood adjust to a passing attack, the Highlanders took a break and adjusted, giving senior defensive lineman Jayden Garcia the opportunity for his first sack of the season.

Garcia, an All-City selection last year, paired that sack with a tackle for loss later in the contest, putting together a complete performance and getting after the Huskies’ ball-carriers.

“We put a lot of pressure on him (Garcia) to take his game up,” Brooks said. “We’re excited that he showed up and showed out; now the great players dominate consistently.”

For North Hollywood (0-1), the debut was marred by injuries, with senior captains Josiah Taylor and Gaven Zamora leaving the game. Both teams dealt with cramps and injuries as a heat wave baked much of the San Fernando Valley.

The Huskies’ bright spot came on the first drive, when a pair of play-action passes from junior quarterback Logan Grant set up the team’s only touchdown, scored by senior running back Chris Renteria.

Next week, North Hollywood looks to bounce back, playing their second straight road game at Village Christian on Friday at 7 p.m., while Granada plays at Venice on Thursday at 7 p.m..