Having endured a tough nonleague schedule the Palisades High football team starts Western League play this week against its archrival Venice and there is plenty of incentive for Coach Tim Hyde and his players.
After all, the Dolphins have lost to their archrivals 14 consecutive times, including last season’s 31-28 defeat in which receiver Kemontae Dafney scored all four of Venice’s touchdowns.
Dafney has since graduated, but the Gondoliers still have weapons and Hyde isn’t fooled by their 1-4 record.
“What more can I say — it’s Venice,” Hyde said. “I have nothing but respect for Coach [Angelo] Gasca and his program. They’ve been the team to beat in our league for what seems like forever.”
To beat Venice for the first time since 2000, the Dolphins will have to find a way to contain wideout Skye Germaine, who Hyde called “the best receiver in our league.”
Like Palisades, the Gondoliers played a difficult nonleague schedule that included losses to Upland, Garfield, Newbury Park and Oaks Christian. The teams share one common opponent in Granada Hills, which lost to Venice 28-21 in its opener and lost the Charter Bowl to Palisades, 39-34.
“They have the biggest offensive line we will have faced, their quarterback throws a nice deep ball and they have two outstanding running backs in #2 [Christopher Dormer] and #5 [Dejean Parramore]. They also have back the All-League Lineman of the Year in Enrique Luna.”
Football games are ultimately decided in the trenches and Palisades offensive guard Dennis Zavatski believes the Dolphins are up to the challenge.
“This means a great deal to us,” he said. “We want to start league off on the right foot. Our record doesn’t represent what we’re about. We know they have some athletes but so do we and when we execute nobody can stop us.”
Palisades’ junior varsity team beat Venice 14-6 last year — a fact that has head coach Ray Marsden worried.
“Based on what I’ve seen on film they’re better than they were last year,” he said. “We’re going to have our hands full.”
Making the task that much more diffiult for the JV will be the absence of two-way starter Dakota Hamilton, who has been moved up to varsity.
“We have very few sophomores, a lot of guys going both ways and even with fatigue and injuries we’ve had I feel like we’re pretty strong heading into league,” quarterback Noah Karp said. “This is a big game against Venice, they’re our biggest rival and I really want to set the tone early, I want to start off league play with a really good start and a win.”
The JV game will kick off at 4 p.m. Friday, followed by the varsity game at 7 at Stadium by the Sea.
— Steve Galluzzo
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
