Dolphins Dominate League Opener

Twelve minutes were all the Palisades High football team needed to settle the issue last Friday night. The Dolphins used the remainder of their Western League opener to show what could be in store for future opponents.

In its most complete effort of the season, Palisades trounced the Comets 43-0 for its second shutout and third in two years under head coach Tim Hyde.

“Compete – that’s what we always stress in our program,” Hyde said. “Especially when you’re going into league — just play one snap at a time, don’t worry about the score. It’s about taking what’s in front of you at that moment.”

On his team’s first play from scrimmage, Pali High quarterback P.J. Hurst dropped back and gunned a pass over the middle to receiver Herbert Acosta, who caught it in stride, slithered free from two defenders and raced 55 yards for a score that set the tone less than two minutes into the game.

A poor punt gave the Dolphins possession at Westchester’s 35-yard line and this time they handed the ball to Desmond Box, who busted off right tackle for nine yards.  Four plays later he ran 11 yards for a touchdown. Palisades got a safety when the Comets were penalized for holding in the end zone, making it 16-0. Hurst and Acosta hooked up again later in the first quarter — this time on a 45-yarder — to make it 23-0 and the rout was on.

“The first touchdown wasn’t planned but Coach Hyde told us he wanted an air attack,” Acosta said. “P.J. saw the safety on the other side, threw me the ball and I was wide open. The second one was a repeat. They didn’t adjust, P.J. saw that and I was wide open again. It was easy.”

Box broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and the Dolphins took a 29-0 lead into halftime.

Box finished with 200 yards in 11 carries rebounding from a subpar performance the previous week when he was held to negative yardage and had a costly fumble in Palisades’ loss to Harvard-Westlake,

“After the last game I had to come out and redeem myself,” Box said. “I didn’t think about what I was going to do on those runs — it was just second nature. My body just took control.”

Hurst completed 10 of his 12 passes for 234 yards and Acosta finished with four catches for 143 yards. Box, Ryan Ashmore, Quincy Cowherd and James Mann  also had pass receptions.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here where we’ve come out and exploded early,” Hyde said. “We wanted to open up the offense and let P.J. throw it like crazy. We have a lot of confidence in him and it helps to have two fantastic running backs.”

Innocent Okoh replaced Box in the second half and ran hard in his varsity debut, piling up 53 yards in eight carries and scoring the Dolphins’ last two touchdowns on runs of two and five yards.

“I noticed the difference — the guys are so much bigger, but I learned the plays and I feel I can contribute,” said the 5-foot-4, 160-pound sophomore, who upped his season total to 16 touchdowns (his first 14 were on junior varsity). “I told myself to be patient and  follow the blocks.”

Hyde is glad to have Okoh in the rotation and liked what he saw Friday night.

“That’s what we could see below and that’s why brought him up,” Hyde said. “We’re deeper at the running back position than we were last year. Now we don’t have to rely on one guy.”

While the offense was clicking on all cylinders, the defense was wreaking havoc in the backfield, limiting Westchester to 162 yards from scrimmage.

Junior linebacker Alec Simpson led the charge with nine tackles, defensive tackle Kenny Jones had eight tackles and linebacker Lofton Mason added 7.5 tackles and an interception, stepping in front of an underthrown pass at the goal line and returning it 32 yards on the last play of the first half.

The best part was that Hurst and his fellow starters got to watch the fourth quarter from the sideline as backup Gabriel Galef and the second stringers saw valuable playing time.

In the JV game, Palisades’ offense sputtered in a 12-8 defeat.

Stone Maderer scored on a five-yard run and added the two-point conversion to pull the Dolphins within four points with 2:32 left, but Westchester recovered the ensuing onside kick and gained a first down to run out the clock.