GRANADA HILLS — The Village Christian football team doesn’t tend to shuffle its defensive line around before each snap, but on Friday that strategy kept Granada Hills Charter off balance and disrupted its rushing attack.
When a defense faces off against the Highlanders, it can expect the ball to be run on just about every play. It’s a strategy head coach Bucky Brooks employed that helped them win a 2022 LA City Division I championship. One that Crusaders’ head coach Richard Broussard and his staff had prepared specific schemes for.
“Our coaches front-loaded the information and the players went to work,” Broussard said.
On Friday night, the homework paid off as Village Christian beat Granada Hills 45-8.
Quarterback Chase Everett threw for 244 yards and wide receiver Ryan Dellutri led the Crusaders (2-0) with seven catches for 154 yards, but this win began with the defense and a process that started five days ago.
While hunkering down for Hurricane Hilary, the Crusaders used the day off to hop on Zoom meetings and study the intricacies of the Highlanders rushing attack.
“This is the most prepared we’ve been for a team,” linebacker Matt Keller said.
The Highlanders use a gap scheme, which pushes the ball through the tackles. Defensive coordinator Kohl Adams Hurd noticed that it consisted of just four different formations, so his defense — which has the wherewithal to check on any given play — was able to adapt to each look on the fly. That’s where the pre-snap shifting came in. It was strategic, but it also drew nine false start penalties from the Highlanders’ offensive line.
“There’s two ways you can play it,” Broussard said. “You’re going to play inside and make the ball go wide, or you can box it, so you can play outside, in. With a team like that, if you play outside, in, [Darrell Stanley’s] going to the house every time.”
Well, Darrell Stanley never went to the house. In fact, the Highlanders only did…
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