What he wasn't sure of, though, was whether or not Granum could lead the Falcons to a division championship.

He is now.

Granum led Saratoga to a 6-0 finish and the league championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. For his efforts, Granum was named the Most Valuable Player in the division for the 2003 campaign.

Granum topped a list of five special award winners on the all-league team—three of them Falcons.

Granum finished the season with a combined net total of 1,142 yards passing and rushing. The senior completed 31 of 68 passes for 584 yards and six touchdowns, and he ran 104 times for 558 yards and seven TDs.

Talented senior running back Dayne McGee was named the division's Most Valuable Offensive Player and senior two-way star Ryan Newberry was picked the league's Most Valuable Defensive Player.

McGee raced for more than 1,000 yards and was the Saratoga workhorse in the backfield. The senior carried 173 times for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Newberry ran the ball 36 times for 167 yards, but it was on the defensive side of the football where he really starred for the Falcons. He led Saratoga with 73 tackles, including a team-high 23 unassisted stops.

Fremont senior Mike Silva won the division's Most Valuable Back award and Santa Clara senior Alex Reyes was picked the Most Valuable Lineman.

Saratoga dominated the all-league first team with nine Falcons earning positions on the first and second teams.

Junior running back Phil Spencer, who carried 80 times for 853 yards and 10 TDs, was picked to the first-team offense along with teammates Mark Bertelson, a senior center, and Augie Laugeman, a sophomore tackle.

Senior defensive backs Paul Culbertson and Darren Lee claimed first-team defensive honors for the Falcons along with junior Brent Walter and senior Javier Meza in the defensive line and seniors Adam Sato and Tom Cummins at linebacker.

Rounding out the first offense were senior quarterback Donny Ecker of Los Altos; senior running backs Jonathan Price of Cupertino, Akili Roach of Santa Clara and Royce Hurd of Los Altos; senior wide receivers Mike Kinsman of Santa Clara and Gavin Zack of Monta Vista and junior Aaron Hickson of Fremont; senior tight end Matt O'Donnell of Santa Clara; senior guards Colby Farr of Cupertino and Jared Rose of Santa Clara and junior Jason Kaye of Lynbrook; senior tackles Matt Kolblak of Los Altos and Sean Crane of Cupertino; and junior utility player James Nicholson of Los Altos.

Earning places on the first defense were junior Matt Delgado of Monta Vista and sophomore Josh Lodge of Santa Clara in the line; seniors Alex Marino and Travis McClosky of Monta Vista and Nick Ramirez-Baker of Cupertino and sophomore Alex Minor of Santa Clara at linebacker; junior Beni Quezada of Santa Clara and sophomore Nathan Cathcart in the secondary; and senior James Morace of Los Altos at utility.

Saratoga players claiming all-league positions on the second-team defense were junior linebacker Ryan Hall and junior linebacker T.J. Florence.

Lynbrook's junior running back Austin Fong was named to the second offense with Vikings Ryan Dormisian, a junior lineman, Johnny Huizar, a junior linebacker, and Mike Thurman, a junior back, picked to the all-league second team defense.