Brock’s Five Touchdown Passes Lead Corsairs Football to Overtime Victory

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Three years ago, Forrest Brock threw for 1,737 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior quarterback at Palisades High, leading the team to a 9-2 record, an outright Western League title and the City Section Open Division quarterfinals while earning  first team All-League and second team All-City honors.

On Saturday, the Topanga resident  completed 30 of 38 passes for 322 yards and five touchdowns to lead  the Santa Monica College football team to a 41-40 overtime victory over West LA—the Corsairs’ first win of the season and Brock’s first win as a starter at the college level.     

The 6-3, 205-pound gray shirt freshman threw touchdown passes of 30, 4, 10, 33 and 4 yards and also scored on a six-yard run in the third quarter.

Through four games, Brock has completed 89 of his 148 attempts for 884 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

Helping SMC to its first win were  two other Pali High alums—sophomore linebacker Noah Ghodooshim and sophomore defensive back Max Palees. Ghodooshim recorded 14 tackles (eight solo) and Palees added nine (five solo). Both were All-City players at Palisades. Ghodooshim (57) and Palees (53) were first and second on SMC in tackles last fall.

As a freshman at Palisades in 2017 Brock earned the program’s Rookie of the Year Award after leading the JV squad to a 10-0 record. He started four varsity games as a sophomore, passing  for 596 yards and five touchdowns  with a rating of 103.7, but fractured his collar bone and had to sit out the Dolphins’ playoff loss at Eagle Rock. After his breakout junior year at Palisades, Brock transferred to City champion Birmingham for his senior year and threw for 1,274 yards and 17 scores in six games in the COVID-shortened and delayed  2020 season.

Brock went to Paul Revere Middle School for the 6th and 8th grades and spent 7th grade at Chaminade. He  played wide receiver in his first year in Pop Warner with the Santa Monica Vikings before transitioning to quarterback.