As he walked off the field at Stadium by the Sea last Friday night, Conner Preston applied an ice pack to his right hand. But rest assured, he was feeling no pain. Winning has a way of turning grimaces into grins. Palisades’ sophomore quarterback celebrated his 16th birthday with 135 yards passing, and Khalid Stevens earned the game ball by rushing for 127 yards and three touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 28-6 rout of Hollywood. “This is still a new offense but as the game went on I thought we really started clicking,” said Preston, who was serenaded with “Happy Birthday to You” by fans and teammates after the game. “I really haven’t had time to think about my birthday because I’ve been focused on the game all day. Now that we won I can enjoy it a little.” Preston accidentally banged his hand against a defender’s helmet in practice earlier in the week and suffered a hairline fracture to the right index finger of his throwing hand. No matter, the injury did little to deter him from doing what he does best–particularly in the third quarter when he spiraled a perfect pass to Loren Artis to give the Dolphins a 21-6 lead. It was an efficient night for Preston, who had one pass intercepted and two other scoring strikes to Joe Hyman–covering 70 yards and 28 yards, respectively–nullified by holding calls. Throw in a lost fumble by Stevens and 130 yards in penalties and, despite the resounding victory, there was plenty for Head Coach Kelly Loftus to harp on. “I’m pleased, but not satisfied,” Loftus said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot and we’re going to have to clean that up. We also need to work on our physical conditioning. We didn’t handle their quick offense very well and we need to get in and out of the huddles much faster.” Even Loftus had no complaints about Stevens, who took over the game in the second quarter with explosive power and sprinter’s speed. His first score–on a 23-yard run–put Palisades ahead 7-6 with 10:36 in the second quarter. His 37-yard burst just over two minutes later upped the Dolphins lead to eight points. His final foray into the end zone–from 17 yards away–brought the curtains down on the Sheiks. “I give all the credit to my offensive line–Bryce Williams and all those guys really stepped up,” said Stevens, who finished with 127 yards in only 11 carries. “It feels great to play here in front of our fans. The field gets a little slick at night but it’s fast–just the way I like it.” Stevens also praised the grit and poise displayed by his quarterback in just his second varsity start: “Conner did awesome. He took some lickings but kept on ticking. He made some great throws.” All three of Stevens’ scores were variations of the same play, a fake to the fullback designed to freeze the opposing linebacker. “We call it ‘lion’ on the left side and ‘ram’ on the right side,” Loftus said. “He scored twice on the right side and once on the left. That play was there all night.” Hollywood showed up ready to play and recovered an onside kick to start the game. Pali defensive tackle Juan Climaco rolled an ankle on the second play from scrimmage and did not play another down. The Sheiks marched 47 yards in 12 plays, scoring first on Steven De Guzman’s quarterback sneak. From then on, however, it was all Palisades. “What was I most happy about?” Loftus asked, scratching his head. “Probably the fact that our sophomore placekicker [Alex Anastasi] didn’t miss one and Bobby Powell getting 20 yards in about three carries. Also, [cornerback] Lawrence Villasenor getting two sacks as a sophomore. I’ve never seen that before.” Junior wide receiver Tyquion Ballard had two receptions while Stevens, Preon Morgan and Tanqueray Towns each added one for the Dolphins, who already have as many wins as they managed all of last season. “We only have one way to go,” Stevens said. “And that’s up.” Frosh/Soph Kevin Mann caught touchdown passes of 40 and 15 yards from freshman quarterback John Lemoine and Palisades raced to a 28-0 halftime lead on its way to a 40-6 victory. Willie Anderson opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run and Lemoine added the two-point conversion. Anderson later scored on a 30-yard run to give the Dolphins a 21-0 lead. “This was a great start,” Palisades line coach Bill Jacobson said. “We got off on the right foot.” Solomon Israel scored on a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and fellow sophomore Emmanuel Hester had four sacks and recovered a Hollywood fumble. Sophomore running back Kemonta Reed’s five-yard touchdown run closed out the scoring with 6:10 remaining in the game. “We missed a lot of stuff but overall I was pleased,” Rocky Montz said of his first game as Pali’s head coach. “The running backs were great and the defense didn’t give up one first down until they scored in the fourth quarter. Our punt team needs some work but we have a lot of depth.”
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