Last Friday night, the Palisades football team proved they enjoyed coming home again. And for Palisadians in attendance, it surely was sweet to watch what transpired.
Following four straight road games that included three victories and a heartbreaking 36-35 loss at Fairfax, the Dolphins entered their homecoming game at the Stadium by the Sea poised to put on a show for their home crowd.
Pali did precisely that from beginning to end, using offensive balance and defensive prowess to handily take care of Westchester, 37-14.
“To come out tonight in the fashion we did was a great testament to our kids,” Dolphins head coach Tim Hyde said. “We treated this game like our home opener. And to play a talented, fast Westchester team the way we did, after losing by one point to a helluva Fairfax team, it was huge for our guys. Tonight was a big, big win for us.”
From the outset, Pali’s offense spread the field, dictated the tempo and methodically moved the ball on the Comets’ defense, opening the scoring only six minutes into the game when junior Quincy Cowherd took a 4-yard flare pass from quarterback Taylor Mensik into the end zone to make it 7-0.
Following a Westchester (2-5, 0-2 in league) three-and-out capped by an impressive sack from Dolphins junior linebacker Lofton Mason, Pali’s offense wasted little time putting a second touchdown on the board when Mensik found 6-foot-4 senior Ryan Holbert wide open down the middle of the field for a 43-yard score with 3:31 left in the first.
From there, the quick strikes stopped—but the Dolphins scoring did not. Pali (5-2, 1-1) stalled briefly opening the second quarter, when the Comets forced a three-and-out on a Mensik incompletion, bringing up fourth-and-12 from Pali’s own 18. However, on the ensuing play, junior punter Ethan Erickson incurred a roughing the kicker penalty against Westchester to give Pali an automatic first down and the drive a second life.
That opening was all Mensik and his offensive unit needed. The 6-foot senior picked up two first downs on completions to Holbert and junior Herbert Acosta and senior running backs Joseph Velez and Gary Dorfman each added first-down rushes before bruising senior fullback Angelo Sink scampered six yards for the score. Sink’s touchdown capped the impressive 14-play, 8:53 minute scoring drive to run the lead to 21-0 and put the game out of reach.
In the second half, Westchester receiver Aristol Melchor did his part to keep things interesting, linking up with quarterback Aaron Greenfield for all the Comets’ points on two deep strikes while amassing over 200 yards receiving—the proverbial “fast guy running fast” offense as Hyde described it—but the Pali offense refused to slow up.
Velez and Dorfman each added scoring runs of their own in the third- and fourth-quarter respectively and Westchester never got within 20 points, reiterating the potency of a balanced Pali offensive unit that sports a variety of different weapons.
“Taylor had some amazing passes and our running game was great,” said Hyde. “Whether it’s Velez, Sink, Dorfman, Brandon Joseph, Desmond Box, all our guys have the mentality of, ‘When it’s my turn, I play.’ That goes back to the team, our 11. It doesn’t matter who starts, it’s about the 11 who are on the field. And our kids take tremendous pride in that.”
That team-first pride will be on full display tomorrow when Venice (5-2, 2-0 in league) enters the Stadium by the Sea. Considered to be one of the strongest teams in City Section, head coach Angelo Gasco’s Gondoliers ride into PaliHi with a four-game winning streak, fresh off impressive wins over University (48-0) last week and Hamilton (49-0) the week prior.
The game is one Hyde’s Dolphins have looked forward to since the season kicked off, and by all accounts, Pali is relishing the opportunity to announce its presence against one of the City’s best.
“We’ve always called it ‘Game Eight’,” said Hyde. “We’ve never used anything else to describe it, and we’re excited. It matters and when things matter, you get a little more excited … They’ve built an amazing program and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
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