Pali High wide receiver Herbert Acosta talks about the team’s improvement since last season.
Summer break has hardly been a vacation for the Palisades High football team. The Dolphins have been practicing with purpose and all signs point to an exciting season ahead. They made the quarterfinals of last Saturday’s Bellflower seven-on-seven passing tournament and Thursday evening they were back at Stadium by the Sea to take on Brentwood.
Junior quarterback P.J. Hurst played the first two series and the defense had three takeaways in the hour-long scrimmage. Wide receiver Herbert Acosta has been one of Hurst’s primary targets and Acosta had high praise for his quarterback afterwards.
“Since last year sitting on the bench behind Taylor [Mensik] he’s really learned a lot,” Acosta said. “He’s been delivering the ball perfectly to the receivers and our defense is just as good. We have our middle linebacker Alec Simpson who has grown a lot bigger and I’m sure he’ll make a big impact on our season.”
Running back Brad Boorstin, who led the Dolphins’ wrestling team to the City Section’s first dual title in February, is looking forward to playing Santa Monica, a Southern Section team that has had Pali High’s number in recent years. Coach Tim Hyde is confident his second season will be even better than his first, which produced seven wins and a City Division I playoff berth.
“Our strength is the attitude,” Hyde said. “There’s a good group of leaders on this team. They know me, they know the drill. They know what happens if they miss practice, they know what they have to do to be better. If we stay healthy, we’re going to be good.”
The Dolphins return to action July 12 at the Santa Fe Passing Tournament in Santa Fe Springs.
— Steve Galluzzo
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