Big games seldom live up to expectations, but Friday night’s Western League football showdown between Venice and Palisades was an exception. Both teams gave it everything they had for four quarters and in the end the host Gondoliers escaped with a 31-28 victory, thanks in large part to Kemontae Dafney.
The senior wide receiver/defensive back accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns — the first on a 91-yard kickoff return and the other three on pass receptions. He ended the night with nine catches for 138 yards, but his most important catch was his interception in the back of the end zone on the last play that finally sealed the win.
“The story of the game is that we didn’t get off the field on third and longs — I can’t say that one thousand times enough,” Pali High 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.”
Dafney’s heroics overshadowed a stellar performance by Palisades quarterback P.J. Hurst, who completed 21 of 33 passes for a season-high 335 yards and a pair of touchdowns — an 88-yarder to Herbert Acosta that made it 7-0 in the first quarter and a 52-yarder to Dhaamir Lomax that pulled the Dolphins to within three points late in the third quarter.
Acosta had seven catches for 130 total yards, Lomax caught six passes for 91 yards and Quincy Cowherd added three catches for 54 yards. 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.
Alec Simpson made 11 tackles, fellow linebacker 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,” Simpson said. “We did a great job stopping the run and putting pressure on [quarterback] Robbie Blosser, we just have to cover the deep fades. 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 appeared to be 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 down to the Venice 34-yard line with 8.6 seconds left and rather than attempt a 51-yard field goal by kicker Ethan Erickson, who missed a much closer try earlier in the game, Hyde elected to play for the win. Hurst’s pass 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… I’m more disappointed right now.”
Each team entered the game highly motivated. The Dolphins were determined to snap a 13-game losing streak to their league nemesis while Venice was trying to bounce back from its surprising 14-7 setback against University — the Gondos’ first league defeat in nine years. Now both Venice and Palisades are in a four-way tie for second place with three games left.
Perhaps Venice Coach Angelo Gasca said it best: “That was a great game and I’m sorry someone had to lose.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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