Pali High Football Routs Roosevelt

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It took only one play for the Palisades Charter High School varsity football team to seize control of last Friday night’s home game, August 25, against LA Roosevelt.

On the opening kickoff, the ball bounced off the turf and into the arms of LeHenry Solomon at the 10-yard line. The sophomore cut to his right, got a block from fellow returner Teralle Watson and raced up the sideline for a 95-yard touchdown that sent the Dolphins on their way to a 42-14 triumph over Los Angeles Roosevelt.

“I got a good run up to it, I knew where the hole was, Teralle hit someone for me and I just followed my blockers the rest of the way,” Solomon said. “We proved we’re one of the toughest teams in the City. We have new pieces but our team is full of gamers.”

Following a Roosevelt punt, Roman La Scala threw a 20-yard pass to Braydon Sanford, and Jaden Williams made a one-handed grab for 14 yards to midfield. Then Watson blasted through a gaping hole and sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown. Kellan Ford’s extra point made it 14-0 with 5:10 left in the first quarter.

“The day we couldn’t practice [because of the hurricane] we met on Zoom and it really helped us,” Watson said. “We learned what we did wrong and right. Coach shows a lot of passion. It’s a good feeling knowing he prepares us. He gets on us on Monday so we can be our best on Friday.”

Roosevelt moved into Dolphins territory on its second drive, but a fumble was snatched out of the air by cornerback Isaiah Sensabaugh, who returned it 62 yards for another score and just like that, the lead was 21 points.

After the Rough Riders turned the ball over on downs at the Palisades 17-yard line, the Dolphins needed four plays to make it 28-0 on Harrison Carter’s 58-yard touchdown run and Ford’s point-after kick midway through the second quarter. Carter gained eight yards in four carries as Palisades amassed 171 yards on the ground, averaging 12.2 yards per rush.

Roosevelt, which had lost 27-12 to Venice a week before, drove 75 yards in 11 plays, ending on a nine-yard halfback option pass from Isaiah Ponce De Leon to Isaac Rodriguez to get on the scoreboard. It marked the first points surrendered by the Dolphins’ defense in the first six quarters this season. The two-point conversion run failed but it seemed the visitors would have momentum heading to halftime.

Instead, Palisades went 80 yards in four plays, capped by Sanford’s 12-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone with 14 ticks on the clock. Ford’s kick made it 35-6 at the break.

Rowan Flynn recovered a fumble at the Palisades 44 on Roosevelt’s first drive of the second half, and after two runs by Shilo Beavers put the Dolphins in range, La Scala lofted a pass to Sanford in the corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 42-6 early in the third quarter.

Roosevelt controlled the ball for the next 10 minutes, marching 61 yards in 13 plays and scoring on a three-yard run by Leonardo Gonzalez. The two-point conversion run provided the final margin at the 7:45 mark of the fourth quarter. Back-up quarterback Brett Federman took over, and Palisades drove to the Roosevelt five before Federman took a knee to kill the clock and end the game.

“We’ve got to keep going, we can’t slow down,” Palisades’ first-year head coach Dylen Smith said. “We have a short week and a rivalry game coming up. Every week we win, the target on our back gets bigger.”

The decisive win solidified the Dolphins as a Top 10 team in the City Section rankings.

Earlier that afternoon the junior varsity squad improved to 2-0 under new coach Dwight Hamilton with a 33-6 victory.

Sophomore quarterback Mattias Hernandez threw touchdown passes of 30 and 23 yards to King Demethris in the first quarter, added a 55-yard strike to Ricardo Martin in the second quarter, and connected with Malachi Ross on a 28-yard scoring pass play in the fourth quarter.

Jack Crosby returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown, and linebacker Nico Townsley pounced on a fumble to snuff out a Roosevelt drive at the Palisades 12, then chased down and tackled tailback Rudy Flores from behind to save a touchdown inside the Dolphins’ 10 with under one minute left.

Hernandez has thrown six touchdown passes in the team’s first two games.

Palisades hosts Granada Hills in the Charter Bowl on Thursday, August 31. JV kicks off at 4 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m.