Huskies Get in On Stanley Talent Pool, Offer Youngest One
The Granada Hills Charter High School football team in Southern California used to be all about the Elway family and the forward pass.
Jack coached the team and John threw the ball.
Fast forward ahead more than four decades, and Granada Hills still relies on bloodlines to get things done only with a far different football approach.
This past season, the Highlanders turned the offense over to cousins Dijon and Darrell Stanley and tried to run the ball down everyone's throats.
With 13 different players drawing carries, Granada Hills piled up 6,043 yards and 76 touchdowns rushing while operating out of an antiquated yet high-powered single- or double-wing offense — amazingly going the first 14 games without completing a forward pass before connecting on a pair in the 4A CIF state championship game.
Oh, Stanley (enter your best Laurel and Hardy quip right here).
Dijon Stanley, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound speedster who lined up both at quarterback and tailback and is signed with Utah, had a team-best 2,756 yards and 33 touchdowns on the ground as a senior.
The 5-foot-11, 150-pound Darrell Stanley, who was just a sophomore and chipped in 1,291 yards and 19 TDs rushing, on Friday received a scholarship offer from Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington recruiters, his second following one from Colorado State.
Hey, it's early for him. He's got a lot of carries and offers to go.
These blazing Stanley cousins each scored on three returns, as well, with the younger Darrell going the distance on a pair of interception runbacks and a punt.
Coached by Bucky Brooks, who doubles as an NFL Network reporter, Granada Hills went 12-3 by averaging 46 points per game. And, again, this team did it the old-school way with a two-headed monster.
Dijon Stanley's best rushing outing was a 378-yard, 5-touchdown outburst in a 44-7 victory over Palisades late in the year. He averaged 196.9 yards per game.
Cousin Darrell had his moment in the SoCal sun with a 229-yard, 5-score showing in a 62-18 win over Kennedy early in the season. He averaged 186.1 yards per contest.
Oh yeah, Darrell caught one of those two Granada Hills pass completions, snagging a 30-yarder in the state title game. Ryan Grubb, UW offensive coordinator, will be glad to hear that.
This was the first and only time the Stanley cousins were able to play on a football team together. Should Darrell end up at Washington, these two could be opponents in a Pac-12 game as early as 2025.
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