Vikings Hold On to Extend Streak

From the day he took over the Palisades High football program last year, head coach Tim Hyde has instilled a mindset in his players: work hard, do your job and compete. That’s just what the Dolphins did for 48 minutes last Friday night at Santa Monica College and although the end result was a defeat, Hyde praised the team’s effort throughout its 15-7 loss to host Santa Monica in the 29th meeting between the schools.

“It was all about us and competing, we gave it everything we’ve got and we kept battling,” Pali High Coach Tim Hyde said. “We wanted to be in a position to win in the fourth quarter and we were. We held Santa Monica to 15 points. You tell me that every year and I’ll take it.”

Palisades drove to the Vikings’ 19-yard line with two minutes remaining, but Genki Yoshida sacked quarterback P.J. Hurst on fourth-and-four. Santa Monica took possession and picked up a first down to run out the clock.

“It didn’t matter who this Friday night was against,” Hyde said. “We never said the name or their mascot, we just knew were going to take a bus ride at 5 o’ clock, we knew a ball was kicking off at 7 and we knew we were going to compete — simple as that. Their running back’s a man. I’ve been here two years and Santa Monica gets grown men at running back. They’re hard core.”

Santa Monica had won the previous 10 games in the rivalry by an average of four touchdowns, but it was clear from the opening series that this game would be different. The score was 0-0 after the first quarter and Hyde set the tone on the Dolphins’ first series, electing to go for it on fourth-and-two near midfield. Brad Boorstin ran for the first down but the drive stalled at Santa Monica’s 42-yard line.

Palisades threatened to score on its next drive after Hurst scrambled out of the pocket and threw a 34-yard pass to tight end James Mann on third-and-long. The Dolphins drove to the Vikings’ 14-yard line before Isaac De La Rosa made a leaping interception and returned it 22 yards to end the threat.

Santa Monica led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a 19-yard scoring run by Zachary Cooper with just over four minutes left in the second quarter.

Cooper’s three-yard scoring run capped Santa Monica’s first possession of the second half and holder Genki Yoshida rolled right, found a seam and ran for the two-point conversion after a low snap prevented kicker Jordan Golden from attempting the extra point. Cooper had 151 yards in 29 carries and Deon Hoard added 77 yards in 11 carries for the Vikings (1-1), who attempted only three passes, completing two, and won despite committing 15 penalties for 145 yards.

It was the closest margin in the rivalry since Palisades prevailed 23-21 in 1998. Santa Monica improved to 21-6-2 in a rivalry that began in 1979 and Vikings head coach Travis Clark, a Samo High alumnus who played the Dolphins three times (1984-86), predicted more tight games in the future.

“Tim [Hyde] and I had a wonderful conversation tonight and I have so much respect for him,” Clark said. “That’s the best team Palisades has had in my six years here and it’s not even close. Tim’s got me nervous. They’ve closed the gap real quick. This is great for the Westside and I’ll be rooting for Palisades the rest of the way. They’re going to win City.”

Hurst completed five of 11 passes for 96 yards and ran for the Dolphins’ only touchdown midway through the third quarter two plays after he scrambled out of the pocket on third and long and launched a 37-yard pass to Quincy Cowherd, who was pushed out of bounds at Santa Monica’s 2-yard line.

Boorstin ran for 41 yards in 14 carries and Desmond Box added 30 yards in 14 carries for the Dolphins (1-1), who were penalized nine times for 70 yards.

Willy Rosenfeld rushed three times for 12 yards and caught an 11-yard pass, Dhaamir Lomax had a 10-yard reception and kicker Ethan Erickson made his only point-after try and boomed a 47-yard punt that rolled dead at the Samo 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

“We should’ve won this game — it was more mental mistakes than anything but we still played our hearts out and I give ups to my team,” Box said. “Samo beat us this whole decade so we really wanted to win, but we didn’t buy into the hype. We knew we were going to tire them out. We knew the second half was going to ours.”

Lofton Mason had 7.5 tackles and one sack, Mario Lofton had seven tackles, Kenny Jones had 6.5 tackles, E.B. Odeh had six tackles (one for a loss) and Josh Garcia had 4.5 tackles for the Dolphins, who played without starting safety Duane McBroom (bruised knee). Linebacker Alec Simpson was sidelined with a sprained ankle on the first play of the second half.

“I’m extremely proud of my kids,” Hyde said. “They’re slowly starting to believe in themselves and understand we can play good football this year. We went for it on some fourth downs, we mixed it up, we stayed aggressive. We want to be known as a hard-nosed football team.”

The Dolphins take on undefeated Canoga Park in their home opener tomorrow at Stadium by the Sea and Box stressed the importance of putting the Samo loss behind them quickly.

“There’s definitely a few things we could’ve done better, things we need to clean up, but it’s over and now we have to move on to the next game,” Box said. “We know we can play better than we did tonight so the Western League better watch out.”