Pali High Football Routs North Hollywood

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

“Now that’s how you win a playoff game!”

Those were the first words out of the mouth of Palisades Charter High School football coach Dylen Smith when he addressed his team following the Dolphins’ 56-21 victory last Friday night, November 15, at North Hollywood in the quarterfinals of the City Section Division I playoffs.

After a sloppy performance in which the Dolphins were penalized 15 times for 210 yards in a 35-32 win against South East in their first-round game one week earlier, Smith challenged players to have a crisp week of practice. They responded, and the end result was their most impressive performance of the season, dominating a team that entered the contest undefeated.

Quarterback Jack Thomas enjoyed his best game as a Dolphin, completing 20 of 31 passes for 374 yards and five touchdowns, and rushing for one score while posting a rating of 132.3. The junior transfer from Loyola ended Palisades’ first drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass to LeHenry Solomon that gave fifth-seeded Palisades (10-2) a lead it would never relinquish.

North Hollywood punted for the second straight time. Palisades drove to the Huskies’ 20-yard line on its second possession when Thomas made his only mistake all game. Dylan Garcia intercepted a pass in the end zone for a touchback. However, the home team managed only one first down before punting again.

This time, Thomas engineered a 10-play, 77-yard march culminating in a nine-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Carter to increase the lead to 14-0 midway through the second quarter. Fourth-seeded North Hollywood (11-1) needed six plays to drive 75 yards, the last five yards coming on a run by Omar Muhammed to cut Palisades’ lead in half with 1:43 left in the second quarter.

Not satisfied with a one-score lead, the Dolphins ran their quick tempo offense to near perfection, moving 80 yards in nine plays in just over one minute, and scoring on an 11-yard strike from Thomas to Max Hejazi with 30 seconds left in the first half.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Carter ran 83 yards for a score to make it 28-7, and the Dolphins were on their way to their first road playoff win since a 50-40 triumph at Sun Valley Poly in the Division II quarterfinals in 2010.

“We knew that they were going to bring a lot of pressure and blitz seven or eight guys consistently, so we tried to exploit that and get our receivers in space where they could make plays,” said Thomas, who has 39 touchdown passes and only four interceptions in 12 games. “I watched a podcast last night where both co-hosts picked us to lose, so that was definitely motivation.”

North Hollywood relied on its Wing-T running attack all season, but had to abandon it in the second half. Muhammed caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Andres Avila to get the Huskies back within two scores, but Thomas fooled the defense on a 22-yard quarterback keeper on Palisades’ next drive to keep the visitors in control, 35-14.

North Hollywood gambled, going for it on fourth down at its own 24, but an incomplete pass gave the ball back to the Dolphins, and on the first play, Thomas hit Hijazi in stride over the middle to make it a 28-point margin late in the third quarter.

Kelley Warburton caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jason Martinez on a trick play early in the fourth quarter for the Huskies’ last score but Deveron Kearney’s five-yard touchdown run less than three minutes sealed the deal. Safety Jack Crosby’s interception set up Thomas’ last touchdown toss, a 25-yarder to Michael Meraz.

“This is what happens when you have great preparation all week,” Smith said. “You earned a day off tomorrow.”

North Hollywood, which won the East Valley League, was coming off a 36-30 victory over Granada Hills—the Huskies’ first Division I playoff win ever.

“My receivers do what they do—we’ve got the best group in the City,” Thomas said. “We wanted to avoid third-and-long situations and also no penalties, which we did a much better job of.”

Carter put up impressive numbers as he has all year, rushing for 97 yards in seven carries and catching six passes for 106 yards. Hejazi had five grabs for 114 yards, King Demethris had four receptions for 77 yards and Solomon added three for 43. Kenneth Sanchez and Jake Treibatch each had eight tackles on defense.

Palisades advanced to a semifinal matchup at top-seeded Eagle Rock (10-2) Friday night, November 22, at 7 p.m. The schools last met in the Open Division quarterfinals in 2018 when the host Eagles prevailed, 24-21.