Keeping the Trophy

Dolphins Win Charter Bowl for Sixth Straight Year with 49-24 Triumph over Granada Hills

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High football players got a surprise at practice three  days before their annual Charter Bowl against Granada Hills.

Rick Myers, quarterback of  Palisades’ 1974 squad that made the City final at the LA Coliseum, showed up to deliver an inspiring speech to this year’s Dolphins.

“It’s such a great gift you guys have, so cherish it,” said Myers, who lives in Las Vegas but talks regularly with Pali High Coach Tim Hyde. “Your time here goes by quick and the enthusiasm you have on Tuesday and Wednesday    shows on game day, so make the most of every play, every day!”

Indeed, the Dolphins took his message to heart, producing four quarters of smash-mouth football and leaving John Elway Stadium with the bronze trophy after a 49-24 triumph—their sixth straight in the matchup between the City Section’s first two charter schools.

“This means a lot to us­—we love playing in this game,” said Hyde, who improved 5-0 in the Charter Bowl since taking over the Dolphins’ program in 2013. “We were a little bit sloppy, we didn’t play great run defense, but I’m excited about the energy we had. We wanted to take pictures with the trophy at the end of the game and that’s what we did.”

Palisades has won eight of 12 meetings since the Charter Bowl began in 2006 and the latest chapter couldn’t have started off better for the visitors. On the Dolphins’ second play from scrimmage Alex Vaupen caught a laser beam from quarterback Daniel Hayes in stride and raced 44 yards untouched to give Palisades a 7-0 lead.

Hayes, a junior transfer from Loyola, completed seven of 15 attempts for 140 yards. Since being made the starter in the second half of the season opener at Cleveland, he has thrown for five touchdowns and only one interception.

“We really wanted to throw the ball a ton to get our receivers involved,” Hyde said. “Daniel has played three varsity games, so we want to get him ready for league.”

Dakotah Hamilton was once  again a battering ram out of the backfield, rushing for three touchdowns. He has crossed the goal line in all three games this season after earning All-Western League honors at linebacker last year.

The play of the game occurred late in the first quarter when defensive end Jack Stansell batted a pass by Granada Hills quarterback Josiah Kim into the waiting arms of lineman Syr Riley, who rumbled 63 yards down the sideline before being tackled from behind at the Highlanders’ 12. A penalty advanced the ball to the 5 and Hamilton scored on the next play to give Palisades a 14-7 lead.

“It was a stunt, Jack crashed and tipped the ball and it was just floating there,” Riley said. “When I got it I looked up, saw the pylon and started running. I did what I could do and went as far as my 310 pounds could take me. Every year I’ve been here we’ve won the Charter Bowl so it was all about keeping the streak alive.”

The Highlanders (0-3) crept within five points on a safety early in the second quarter, but on their subsequent drive free safety Will Janney picked off a pass and ran 67 yards for a touchdown.

Vaupen caught his second touchdown pass, this one from 15 yards out, to increase the Dolphins’ lead to 28-9 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

“I saw they were in trips and I just read the quarterback’s eyes,” said Janney, a junior transfer from Crespi.”It’s an incredible rush of energy and I wasn’t going to stop until I got all the way to the end zone. It was a big for us because  it took away their momentum.”

Two plays after an interception near midfield, Max Perez ran 32 yards for a touchdown to pull Granada Hills within 28-16.

Palisades, which is 3-0 for the first time since 1997, marched 65 yards in nine plays, scoring on a six-yard run by Max Palees to take a 35-16 lead midway through the third quarter. After Stansell recovered a fumble at the Highlanders’ 40, it took five plays for the Dolphins to pad their lead on Hamilton’s 12-yard run.

Hamilton completed his trifecta on another 12-yard run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 182 yards in 25 carries, an average of 7.3 yards per carry. Palees carried nine times for 71 yards and sophomore quarterback Cyrille Youan, who took over for Hayes midway through the fourth quarter, had 62 yards in seven carries. Darion Robinson rounded out the rushing attack with 36 yards in seven carries.

Perez carried the ball 27 times for 252 yards and scored three touchdowns for Granada Hills.

“He’s a fantastic back,”Hyde said. “That’s probably the most [yards] anyone has rushed against us since I’ve been here.”

Vaupen caught three passes for 69 yards and Cameron Bailey added four receptions for 71 yards. Campbell Geddes was  seven-for-seven on extra point attempts, punted three times for 110 yards and boomed seven of his eight kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

Noah Karp was all over the field on defense, leading the Dolphins with 16 tackles and fellow linebacker Sy Riley added 10.