Pali High Football Wins Opener in Rout

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Palisades Charter High School varsity football team began its season with high expectations and was projected to be an Open Division contender as one of the eight best programs in the City Section.

The Dolphins certainly looked the part in the Friday night, August 23, opener at Stadium by the Sea, dismantling an undermanned Dymally squad, 58-6, in a nonleague contest, which can only boost the players’ confidence moving forward.

“I thought we’d do well but I wasn’t expecting that,” second-year head coach Dylen Smith said. “They’re kind of in a down phase, like all teams go through at some point. I went to middle school with [Dymally] Coach David Wiltz. One positive for us is that everyone got to play.”

Palisades has won its last four season openers and in those games has outscored its opponents 161-25. The last time the Dolphins lost their first game was in the COVID-shortened 2020 season when they were blanked by Venice, 36-0.

Dymally got the ball first but Connor Petoyan recovered a fumble on the Challengers’ third offensive play, giving Palisades the ball at the opponents’ 31-yard line. On the Dolphins’ first snap, quarterback Jack Thomas dropped back and calmly delivered a strike to a wide open King Demethris in the end zone to give Palisades a 6-0 lead.

On Dymally’s ensuing possession Jake Treibatch broke through the line to block a punt and Joseph Bucher-Leighton recovered at the Challengers’ 25. Harrison Carter ran for a touchdown on the next play but it was called back on a penalty. Two plays later, Thomas threw to LeHenry Solomon for a 10-yard touchdown and Jack Malloy’s extra point made it 14-0.

Dymally, which won nine games last season and made the City Division I semifinals, brought only 25 players and gained more yardage from penalties than from scrimmage in the first half. The teams’ only previous meeting was in the Division I quarterfinals two years ago when host Palisades won, 42-14.

“We didn’t get any film on them and we only practiced against the Wing-T yesterday,” Smith said. “It’s a good tune-up for our next two opponents (Roosevelt and Granada Hills) who run similar offenses. Penalties were a problem. We have to clean that up.”

Carter scored on a six-yard run up the Dolphins’ lead to 21-0, then added a 22-yard scoring run to make it 28-0 midway through the second quarter. He finished with 61 yards in six carries, averaging 10.1 yards per rush.

Demethris caught his second touchdown pass, a 28-yarder from Thomas, increasing the lead to 35-0, and a high snap over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone for a safety made it 37-0.

Dymally punted the ball back to Palisades, which took over near midfield, and on the first play, Thomas rolled right, found a seam and scampered 52 yards on a keeper to put the Dolphins ahead 44-0 with 2:13 left in the first half. He went to the locker room having thrown for three touchdowns and having run for another.

“All of my focus has been on this first game and doing my job to help this team win,” said Thomas, a junior transfer from Loyola who won the starting spot after a steady performance in a scrimmage at Santa Monica one week before. “On the first throw I audibled when I saw Demethris was one-on-one. The main thing is taking what they give us and not keying on one guy. Having a D1 guy like Harrison to hand it off to is huge … he can downhill and makes the other team have to respect the run and that gives me more time to do my thing.”

Thomas completed eight of 12 passes for 141 yards and ran for another 60 yards in his Dolphins debut, posting a QB rating of 146.2. No one was more impressed than his coach.

“Jack threw the ball well,” said Smith, a former quarterback himself. “He got sharper as the game went on and he’s learning fast. It was his first game with me and I think he handled it fine. There was a lot of pressure given that our other quarterback [Brett Federman] quit yesterday, so one of the priorities in practice next week will be finding  a backup.”

The coaches agreed to a running clock in the second half, and it did not take long for the Dolphins to extend the lead on Deveron Kearney’s one-yard run off tackle midway through the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, linebacker Nico Townsley picked off a pass and returned it 33 yards for Palisades’ final score. Malloy was eight-for-eight on extra point kicks, and Cash Allen led the defense with 10 tackles.

In the final minute Dymally quarterback Jamon Hull threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to avert the shutout but the snap was low on the extra point and the attempt failed as time expired.

Palisades (1-0) hosts Roosevelt (1-0) Thursday, August 29, at Stadium by the Sea (JV at 4 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m.). The Rough Riders surprised host Venice 28-15 in their season opener.