Dafney’s Acrobatics Lift Venice to 31-28 Victory over Palisades

With one second remaining last Friday night at Venice, the Palisades High football team had one last chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and end its 13-game losing streak to the defending Western League champions.

Quarterback P.J. Hurst launched an arcing pass into a sea of hands, hoping one of his receivers would make a miraculous catch. Instead, it was senior defensive back Kemontae Dafney who came down with it in the back of the end zone to preserve the Gondos’ 31-28 victory in a hardfought game that exceeded all expectations.

Dafney scored all four of his team’s touchdowns – the first on a 91-yard kickoff return and the other three on pass receptions – but it was his interception on the final play that he’ll likely remember most.

“We definitely could’ve won, we just ran out of time, Pali High receiver Herbert Acosta said. “We knew we had to take a shot at the end zone. In the huddle before the last play, P.J. told everyone to try to get close together and make a play on the ball.”

At times Dafney looked like a high-flying acrobat, out jumping Palisades defenders on fade routes for big yardage and making two diving grabs in the end zone. His highlight-reel catches overshadowed a stellar performance by Hurst, who completed 21 of 33 passes for a season-high 335 yards and a pair of touchdowns – an 88-yarder to Acosta that made it 7-0 in the first quarter and a 52-yarder to Dhaamir Lomax that pulled the visiting Dolphins to within three points late in the third quarter.

“The story of the game is that we didn’t get off the field on third and longs – I can’t say that a thousand times enough,” Palisades Coach Tim Hyde said. “I thought we were unstoppable on offense — so dynamic and so explosive – and I was really happy how

well the defense played in the fourth quarter. We made a few mistakes and bad penalties that extended drives and they took advantage.”

Acosta had seven catches for 130 yards, Lomax caught six passes for 91 yards and Quincy Cowherd added three catches for 54 yards for the Dolphins.

“On my touchdown I attacked the safety, made a couple of moves and broke to the middle,” Acosta said. “It was a busted coverage but we’ll take it.”

Desmond Box rushed for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 13 carries and caught two passes for Palisades, which trailed 17-14 at halftime.

Tight end James Mann stretched out in midair to snare a 26-yard pass that set up Box’s 32-yard scoring run that gave the Dolphins a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Dafney capped an eight-play drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Robbie Blosser to pull Venice even at 14-14.

Palisades had a chance to get on the scoreboard midway through the opening quarter, but Ethan Erickson’s 34-yard field goal attempt was wide. After Skye Germaine’s interception at the Venice 27-yard line, the Gondos marched to Palisades’ 3-yard line. Blosser  scored on a quarterback sneak two plays later but it was nullified by a false start penalty and the Gondos had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Alexander De La Cruz on the final play of the first half.

Blosser hit Dafney in stride along the right sideline and he raced into the end zone to put Venice up 24-14 midway through the third quarter but the Dolphins answered just over four minutes later when Box’s five-yard run capped a nine-play, 66-yard drive.

Dafney’s 66-yard catch and run was called back on a holding infraction, but he got his hands underneath the ball on an 11-yard scoring catch to give Venice a 31-21 lead with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the first play of Palisades’ next drive, Lomax caught a pass from Hurst and took it all the way to pull the Dolphins within three points entering the fourth quarter.

Alec Simpson made 11 tackles, Mario Lofton had 9.5 tackles, Lomax had seven tackles, Lofton Mason had 6.5 tackles and E.B. Odeh added six tackles and a sack for the Dolphins.

“They had athletes,” said Simpson, who batted a Blosser pass to the turf on the Gondos’ first play from scrimmage. “We did a great job stopping the run and putting pressure on Blosser, we just have to cover the deep fades better. That was the problem in the game. We’re looking to go 4-1 [in league] now.”

Ahead by three points late in the fourth quarter, Venice was on its way to the game-clinching score when Corey Rose forced a fumble by running back Leon Stewart and Lofton recovered it, giving Palisades the ball at its 10-yard line with 2:28 left.

Hurst drove the Dolphins to the Venice 34-yard line with 8.6 seconds left and rather than let Erickson try a 51-yard field goal, Hyde elected to play for the win. Mann appeared to get a hand on Hurst’s pass but it was deflected away at the goal line with 1.4 seconds remaining, leaving time for one more throw. This time, Hurst launched it higher and deeper, but Dafney was there to grab it as time expired.

“We when we got the ball back we went with a no-huddle to try to get a shot to the end zone and we did, but I put a little too much on it,” Hurst said. “We were in a huge rhythm throughout the game and we knew we were going to score. They were using long drives to keep us off the field. It hasn’t really sunk in yet how hard we played.vI’m more disappointed right now.”

The Dolphins were trying to  beat Venice for the first time in 14 since 2000 while the Gondos were trying to rebound from a 14-7 loss to University — their first league defeat in nine years. Now both teams are  mired in a four-way tie for second place with three weeks remaining.

“It was a great game,” Venice Coach Angelo Gasca said. “I’m sorry someone had to lose.”