Defense Rises up in Loss to Sylmar

The situation looked dire for the Palisades High varsity football team. Having lost its starting quarterback to a concussion in the first quarter and its leading tackler to a back injury on the first play of the second half, the Dolphins could have easily let last Thursday’s home opener spiral away from them.

Instead, they dug their heels into the turf and put forth one of the finest defensive performances head coach Tim Hyde had ever witnessed.

“This was a great game… they made a few mistakes, we made a few mistakes and just like last week it came down to a couple big plays,” Hyde said after the Dolphins’ 21-16 nonleague loss to Sylmar. “This is exactly what I wanted — two games out of the gate against tough teams. The defense was outstanding — that’s the grit and fight these guys have. I know I’ve got a good team and the bye couldn’t come at a better time.”

Palisades now has a week off to heal up before hosting Canoga Park on Sept. 18.

Quarterback P.J. Hurst led the Dolphins to a 10-0 lead before suffering a mild concussion as he was tackled out of bounds late in the first quarter. He was unable to return, leaving backup Gabe Galef to run the offense.

“When P.J. got hurt what was on my mind was it’s my time to step up and do my part to help the team win,” Galef said. “Obviously it’s exciting to get into the game, but PJ getting hurt is like one of my brothers getting hurt. I don’t want to see it happen.”

Galef and the offense struggled to move the ball in the second quarter and into the third, but a 38-yard pass to Jake Taitelman got the crowd pumped and the Dolphins going.

“That pass was a big confidence booster,” said Galef, who finished 6-of-12 for 109 yards and an interception. “I knew Jake had been burning his corner all night so I looked off the safety, the O-line gave me some time, I escaped to the right a bit and Jake and I made a solid connection.”

After a penalty nullified a touchdown pass from Hurst to Ryan Ashmore on Palisades’ first possession, a fumble led to Innocent Okoh’s 5-yard touchdown run. Josh Garcia booted a 27-yard field goal on Palisades’ next possession and the Dolphins appeared to have all the momentum.

Linebacker Alec Simpson, who intercepted a pass at the goal line to snuff out the Spartans’ first drive, was cracked from two sides trying to recover an onside kick to open the second half and was carried to the sideline on a stretcher.

Justin Mason gave Palisades hope when he scooped up a fumble and scampered 45 yards to cut the Dolphins’ deficit to 21-16 with 2:51 left, then Osorio, Willie Rosenfeld and Ethan Lewis tied up Spartans quarterback Clarence Williams long enough to allow Jimmy Reyes to strip the ball free and Quinn Perry recovered the fumble at Palisades’ 37 with just over a minute left.

“I saw the ball bouncing on someone’s back and luckily I dove on it,” Perry said. “My teammates took the guys off my back and I came out with it.”

The Dolphins drove inside the Sylmar 25-yard line but on fourth down Galef’s pass sailed out of the end zone and Sylmar took over with 17 seconds left.

“The last play call was basically just seams into the end zone and they guarded it pretty well so I just put it up for someone to make a play, but I misjudged it and threw a bad ball,” said Galef, who also played safety on defense. “I always think with the group of athletes we have we can score at any time.”

Despite the 0-2 start, Hyde is optimistic that his team will get on the winning track.

“Just like [our season opener] against Sierra Canyon we had a few nice drives… we just have to finish,” he said. “I’m very proud of how hard we’re working.”

Taitelman had three catches for 65 yards and Simpson had eight tackles in two quarters.

Williams completed nine of 22 passes for 153 yards and one touchdown and Devon Parks ran 20 yards on a quarterback keeper for the winning score halfway through the fourth quarter for Sylmar (1-1), which moved up to Division I after reaching the City Division II title game last fall.

“Our defense is built to stop people, so I was confident we’d hold them at the end,” Williams said. “They came out very physical and did things we weren’t expecting.”