P.J. Hurst is two days away from starting his first varsity game and if he’s beginning to feel the butterflies he certainly isn’t showing it. Palisades High‘s junior quarterback seemed cool as a cucumber Wednesday, just as he was back in the first week of practice.
“P.J. had a great camp, he took us to two semifinals in passing tournaments, he’s a great leader and we’re all extremely excited to see what he’s going to do,” Pali High Coach Tim Hyde said. “He’s got great ability, not just throwing, but in the pocket, in the huddle, how he manages the game and the respect he has on the team. Our program is about development and since I first met him there’s not a player who has taken that development farther than he has.”
Hurst gets his first chance to impress Friday at 3 p.m. in Los Feliz when the Dolphins take on Los Angeles Marshall in their season opener.
Like Palisades, the Barristers went 7-4 last fall, finishing in a three-way tie for third place in the Northern League and falling to Sylmar in the first round of the City Section Division II playoffs.
The teams met in Hyde’s first game at Palisades last season when the Dolphins exploded for 21 unanswered points in both the second and fourth quarters of the 52-12 blowout victory. Hurst watched from the sideline as Taylor Mensik‘s backup and even saw some action, throwing one incomplete pass. Now, he has taken the reins and the Dolphins’ offense is his to run.
“P.J. is so dialed in — he knows each of us really well, he knows the patterns, he knows where we like the ball and he puts it right there,” said wide receiver Herbert Acosta, who will be one of Hurst’s primary targets along with Quincy Cowherd.
Palisades picked off four passes, including one each by defensive backs Dhaamir Lomax (now a senior) and Raynard Beckham (now a junior) in last year’s meeting when Cowherd and tight end James Mann (now seniors), caught touchdown passes and Brad Boorstin (now the first-string running back) had 39 yards and a touchdown in seven carries. Ethan Erickson kicked off nine times in that game and six went for touchbacks.
However, this is a different Marshall team. The Barristers have a new coach, Clay Johnston, and a new quarterback in junior Enzo Mendoza, last year’s JV starter, who set all-time school records with 24 completions and 53 attempts in Marshall’s 23-21 season-opening defeat to Belmont last Thursday afternoon.
Mendoza threw for 253 yards and one touchdown but was intercepted three times by Belmont. Receiver Daniel Wejbe caught nine passes for 90 yards and one touchdown, Fernando Morfin had nine carries for 81 yards and one score and linebacker Carlos Rodriguez made 12 tackles.
The JV game is tomorrow at 3 p.m., also at Marshall. The Dolphins won 8-7 at home last year.
— Steve Galluzzo
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