Muscling Up

Dolphins Dominate Reseda 34-14 in Home Opener at Stadium by the Sea

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High football coach Tim Hyde thought Reseda had the talent to be an Open Division team heading into Friday night’s game at Stadium by the Sea.     Two and a half hours later, it was the Dolphins who looked like a top eight program after manhandling the Regents, 34-14, in their home opener—a surprising result given Reseda’s 30-point blowout one week earlier over Cleveland, which has a win over Palisades.

“This is an unbelievable win… it was our biggest test yet,” Hyde said. “That front seven on defense was as good as any we’ve faced, but our defense played lights out.  We have a great quarterback and I’m giving him options. We came out aggressive and set the tone. I think we can play 48 minutes with a lot of teams in the City.”

Forrest Brock enjoyed his finest game in a Palisades uniform. On the third play of the game, facing third-and-10, he scrambled for a first down to keep the drive alive and seven plays later he bolted 20 yards up the middle for a score to give his team a lead it would never relinquish.

After a botched punt gave the Dolphins the ball back at their own 44-yard line, Brock found Teddy Suisman over the middle,  he juked a defender and 53 yards later he was celebrating in the end zone. Reseda marched inside the Dolphins’ 10 on its next drive, but  turned it over on downs. Brock made one of his few mistakes on the ensuing drive, underthrowing a pass that was intercepted by Da’marrie Smith at the Reseda 30.   

Once again Palisades’ defense     held and another botched punt set up a score by Max Palees that was nullified by a penalty. No problem, four plays later Brock hit Suisman in stride for a 41-yard touchdown.

Reseda punted again and with 1:48 left in the first half Palisades sought the knockout blow. It came five plays later when Brock rolled right to escape pressure and tossed to Suisman in the corner of the  end zone. Tommy Meek added the extra point and Palisades led 27-0. Suisman, who finished with six catches for 143 yards and three touchdowns, joined Palees and Eli Manheim as one of the Dolphins’ top receivers with five touchdown grabs in his last two games.    

“I’m just trying to fill shoes of those guys,” Suisman said, referring to last year’s wideout tandem of Will Janney and Jake Nadley, now College of Idaho teammates.  “I respected how hard those two worked and I want to make them proud. Coach had no idea if we’d run or throw more. They were giving me too much space so we took advantage. They never respected us. This is my time and I’m putting it all on the line for my team.”

Reseda scored twice on Trent Butler quarterback sneaks to creep closer in the third quarter and while star wide receiver Mario Martinez had seven catches for 165, he never found the end zone.

Brock completed 15 of his 22 throws for 251 yards and Palees carried 17 times for 65 yards, including a two-yard run to put the game out of reach with 4:28 left. Linebacker Syaire Riley forced a fumble to set up the score.

Reseda (2-2) drove inside the Dolphins’ 5 with less than 30 ticks left, but an incomplete pass ended the threat, Palisades took over and one kneel down later it was over.

“We needed short-term memory this game,” linebacker Noah Ghodooshim said. “We knew they were going to make plays, but we had to keep that fire.”

As elated and excited players gathered close around him, Hyde kept his postgame speech short and sweet: “On to Brentwood!”