STATWATCH

Sylmar High’s ground game, which averages 253 yards a game, is second only to Poly (255 yards) among area City Section teams. However, the passing game worries Coach Jeff Engilman. “We told the guys that if we’re going to be in the playoffs--and it looks like we will--we’re going to have to throw better,” he said.

Quarterback Deon Price, who has led Sylmar to a 7-0 record, took those words to heart last week. In a 35-0 win over Birmingham, Price completed seven of 11 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown. It marked only the second time this season he has passed for more than 100 yards and raised Sylmar’s passing average to 101.4 yards.

Offense: Crespi quarterback Matt Walker has moved to fifth on the single-season school passing list with 1,265 yards behind Cody Smith (ranks first and third), Babe Laufenberg (second) and Ron Redell (fourth), all of whom played collegiately. Walker passed for 264 yards last week against St. Paul, the seventh-best single-game total in school history. Earlier this season, Walker passed for 307 yards against Chaminade, the third-best single-game output in school history.

In Highland’s past two games, both losses, Bulldog quarterbacks have combined to complete eight of 28 passes for 46 yards. And three of those passes were picked off.

A handful of Northwest Valley Conference backs found the mud to their liking last week. The honor roll of 100-yard rushing standouts includes Granada Hills’ Tremain Foriest (214 yards), Taft’s Jerry Brown (152), El Camino Real’s Chris Shinnick (139), Cleveland’s Coron Lewis (134) and San Fernando’s Leon Blunt (132). Chatsworth’s Nestor Davila came close with 91 yards.

Burbank rushed for a season-high 363 yards in last week’s win over L.A. Baptist. The Bulldogs entered the game with only 461 yards rushing.

Defense: North Hollywood defensive lineman Damon Ollie has recorded two of the Huskies’ four safeties. Ollie, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound junior in his first year of football, blocked a Grant punt out of the end zone last week to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead in the fourth quarter. It was the difference in an 8-6 North Hollywood victory.

Girls’ volleyball: Junior outside hitter Jessica Dinaberg of El Camino Real broke her school record with 38 kills in a sweep of Reseda last week. Her old mark was 35, set against Chatsworth last year. . . . Jill Enright of Royal set a school record with 33 digs in a five-game win over Westlake.