By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
It was teacher versus student last Friday night, September 13, when Palisades Charter High School hosted Brentwood in the sixth edition of the Sunset Showdown.
Pali High football coach Dylen Smith was an assistant for nine years under Brentwood coach Jake Ford before taking the Dolphins’ job last season and wanted to beat his mentor for the first time, having been dealt a 43-24 loss in last year’s meeting.
Palisades trailed most of the night Friday, but tied it in the fourth quarter and had the momentum going to overtime before Eagles quarterback Ben Mikail scrambled for a nine-yard touchdown in the second overtime period to give the visitors a dramatic 33-30 intersectional victory at Stadium by the Sea.
“That was supposed to be a quick pass but it wasn’t there, so I put my shoulder down and went for it,” said Mikail, who was the junior varsity quarterback as a freshman last fall. “Guys were chasing me, and I didn’t think I’d make it to the end zone, honestly.”
Mikail’s winning quarterback keeper overshadowed a career night for Harrison Carter, who ran 17 yards for a touchdown in overtime, caught a nine-yard touchdown pass and also scored on a 90-yard kickoff return. Unfortunately, Carter’s 187 all-purpose yards were not quite enough to keep the Dolphins (3-1) undefeated.
Mikail completed 16 of 32 passes for 249 yards and three scores, two to Kayman Jackson and another to Alex Kisker, and Addison Patrick Stirling ran for 114 yards and one touchdown in 20 carries.
Brentwood got the ball first in overtime and needed only two plays to score from the 25-yard line, but the extra point try was wide. On the Dolphins’ first possession in overtime, Carter’s scoring run tied it 27-27, but Palisades missed a chance to win when the point-after kick was blocked.
Palisades got the ball first in double overtime and settled for a 31-yard field goal by Jack Malloy to take its first lead all night, 30-27.
On its ensuing drive, Brentwood gained a first down but a penalty pushed the Eagles (3-1) back to the 18, and after an incompletion and a nine-yard grab by Kisker, the Eagles faced a third down at the nine-yard line, setting the stage for Mikail’s game-winning gallop.
Brentwood won the previous two showdowns behind dual threat quarterback Boone Lourd (now the third-string quarterback at the University of Virginia) and made it three in a row thanks in part to the defensive efforts of linebacker Enzo Longhi (12 tackles), end Emmett Corwin (who transferred from Windward after it dropped its football program) and Jackson, who intercepted a pass at the Eagles’ seven-yard line late in the third quarter.
“Boone had so many plays like that … he was my mentor, my idol,” Mikail said. “I’m not nearly as fast as him, but I saw the opening and said to myself, ‘Be like Boone.’”
The campuses are located less than six miles apart off of Sunset Boulevard and kickoff occurs about the time the sun is setting, so the public private versus public school matchup is nicknamed the “Sunset Showdown.” Brentwood leads 4-2 in a series that started in 2018.
Palisades had the ball at the Brentwood 33 with two seconds left in regulation but rather than attempt a long field goal the Dolphins opted to pass, and Jack Thomas threw to LeHenry Solomon, who was tackled inside the 15.
“I watched Jack kick in practice all week, I know his range and in that situation we weren’t quite close enough,” Smith said.
Junior quarterback Thomas was 20-of-41 for 283 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 76 yards. Max Hejazi had six catches, including a 12-yard scoring reception to make it 21-21 with 7:17 reaming in the fourth quarter. Solomon had five catches for 163 yards, and King Demethris had four for 37 yards.
Linebacker Jake Treibatch led the defense with 10 tackles, Cash Allen had eight and Jackson Kaufman had four pass deflections.
Brentwood recovered a muffed punt at the Palisades nine-yard line late in the first quarter, and the Eagles capitalized when Mikail hit Jackson in the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 28 to give the visitors a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Palisades drove 59 yards in 10 plays, capped by Thomas’ nine-yard pass to Carter, to tie it 7-7 with under two minutes left in the second quarter. Brentwood needed only 56 seconds to regain the lead on a 45-yard strike from Mikail to Kisker.
Mikail connected with Jackson on a 69-yard touchdown to give Brentwood a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter but Carter ran the ensuing kickoff back all the way to cut Palisades’ deficit in half.
Palisades had effectively shut down three double wing offensive teams in its first three games, but Smith said the Dolphins were prepared for Brentwood and simply did not execute at key times.
“There weren’t really any surprises,” he said. “Theirs is basically the same offense we run, so I knew what to expect. It was fun to see Jake and talk to him before the game but not so much after.”
As a high school senior, Smith quarterbacked Santa Monica to a 35-28 victory over Palisades in 1996 in a crosstown rivalry game then known as the “Rotary Bowl.” Ford was one of his coaches.
“I knew the name of every play called tonight,” Ford said. “Dylen did too. That kickoff return changed the whole game around. We were fortunate to win. Ben did his best Boone impersonation.”
The Pacific Palisades Baseball Association’s Mustang 9U All-Stars, who advanced to the PONY West Zone playoffs (one step away from the International World Series) in July, were honored before the game. A moment of silence was observed for beloved Westside football coach Ray Humphrey, who died January 2.
