A week after they were routed by Santa Monica, 44-15, the Palisades High football team took to the road and regained its winning form, topping Canoga Park, 14-11, last Friday night.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, Pali relied on its defense, which answered the challenge by forcing five turnovers, including two interceptions by junior safety Brad Boorstin.
The first-year varsity player, who has also seen significant playing time at running back, made the game-clinching pick with a minute left to play to seal the victory. The game won’t go down in school history as a classic, but first-year head coach Tim Hyde was happy to see his team progress towards Western League play.
“We went on the road for the first time and we won a gritty, four-quarter battle against a program that’s been a winner lately,” Hyde said of a Canoga Park team that narrowly missed winning the City Division II championship last season. “We learned a lot about what we need to improve on as a football team. We have four straight road games [including this one], and that’s going to be a big-time test for us.”
Boorstin, senior defensive tackle Carlos Herrera and junior linebacker Duane McBroom were all immense for a defense that recovered three fumbles on a sloppy field and allowed just one touchdown. While the Dolphins’ offense struggled (failing to top 100 yards rushing), it also had no turnovers.
“This was a really important win and it gives us great experience in terms of how tough it is to win on the road,” Boorstin said. “We were confident in this game, but they played well and they’re really tough, and next week will be [the same]. For our defense, this game was a real confidence boost.”
Senior quarterback Taylor Mensik put PaliHi on the board early in the game with a 20-yard option run. The Dolphins botched the extra point. On the first play of the second quarter, senior running back Gary Dorfman scored from three yards out to make it 14-0 after a two-point conversion.
From there, Canoga Park tacked on a touchdown, a field goal and a safety to get to within three points, but Boorstin iced the game with his second interception, picking the ball off at the 5-yard line after the Hunters drove into field goal range.
“It was a defensive slugfest,” Hyde said. “There weren’t a lot of offensive highlights, but every Friday is a new game, and it doesn’t matter what you did before. We’ve just got to keep getting better. We’ve got a lot of young kids, and it’s just about being consistent.”
Tomorrow night the Dolphins will play at Granada Hills in the annual Charter Bowl, and next Saturday they will travel to Harvard-Westlake, both at 7 p.m. The Dolphins do not play at home again until October 18 against Westchester.
REMAINING HOME GAMES (7 p.m.)
OCT. 18 vs. WESTCHESTER
OCT. 25 vs. VENICE
NOV. 8 vs. HAMILTON
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