P.J. Hurst credits the offensive line in his five-TD game (4 passing, 1 running) vs. Canoga Park.
Statistically speaking, P.J. Hurst has had better games in his career. He’s thrown for more completions, more yards and more touchdowns than he did Friday night at Stadium by the Sea.
Never, however, has Palisades High’s senior quarterback been more instrumental to his team’s success than he was in the Dolphins’ 34-21 triumph over Canoga Park.
Showing why he was named to the All-City team last year, Hurst threw four touchdown passes, ran for another and willed his team to its first victory of the season.
“All the credit goes to the offensive line — 100 percent,” Hurst said. “Even though me and the wide receivers get all the flashy praise and interviews, it really starts with them. They did what they had to do.”
No one was more proud of Hurst than Palisades head coach Tim Hyde.
“P.J. struggled for the first quarter and a half but once he got in a groove he played like an All-City QB,” Hyde said. “He’s our leader, we have confidence in him and he had some great throws.”
Palisades (1-2) went three-and-out on its first two possessions and faced a third-and-long deep in its own territory late in the second quarter when Hurst made the first of several big plays that turned the tide of the game, scampering 34 yards to move the Dolphins into Canoga Park territory for the first time.
A few plays later he found tight end Gersan Osorio in the end zone for a 35-yard score to pull Palisades within a point. The touchdown seemed to energize the Dolphins’ defense, which then forced Canoga Park to punt from its own end zone.
Hurst capped the following drive with a 10-yard keeper, high-stepping across the goal line and adding the two-point conversion run to give the Dolphins a 14-7 lead with six seconds left in the first half.
Hurst engineered another scoring drive to open the second half, scrambling out of the pocket and launching a 26-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Ryan Ashmore that extended Palisades’ lead to 21-7.
After the Hunters (1-3) answered on a 20-yard scoring pass from Andrew Dion to Joshua Grant, Hurst hit Jake Taitelman on a post corner route and the junior wide receiver dove over the pylon.
“The safety was way inside so I told P.J. I would fake the post instead and break to the corner,” Taitelman said. “I guaranteed him I’d be open and sure enough I got free for six. P.J.’s a talented quarterback, so anytime I get free in coverage I know he’ll give me a chance to make a play.”
“Jake called it actually — all credit it to him,” Hurst said. “He caught it and made me look good.”
The two connected for another 19-yard score early in the fourth quarter to make it 34-14. Deonte Perry’s second touchdown cut the Hunters’ deficit to 13 with 7:38 left.
“The second was pretty easy… I didn’t have to do much but beat the guy off the line and the ball was already in my hands,” Taitelman said. “Our chemistry came mostly from summer workouts and passing tournaments. Reps, reps and more reps.”
It was Palisades’ third victory over Canoga Park in three seasons and like the first two (each decided by three points), it was hard-hitting and physical.
“This was yet another classic game and it took us stopping them at the end,” Hyde said. “Our defensive effort was top notch for 48 minutes, there was no letdown. We had some costly penalties, but I love the mindset of this team.”
Hurst completed nine of 19 passes for 195 yards and was also the Dolphins’ leading rusher with 85 yards in six carries. Ashmore had three receptions for 90 yards and Taitelman made five catches for 70 yards. Stone Maderer ran the ball 14 times for 75 yards and Innocent Okoh added 65 yards in 15 carries.
“We started off slow but this is definitely a confidence booster for everyone,” Hurst said. “We saw that we have a lot of fast guys and we can put up points.”
On Canoga Park’s second possession of the second quarter, Quinn Perry recovered a fumble caused by Marrio Lofton and Oscar Romero intercepted a pass. Lofton and Ethan Lewis each made seven tackles, Willy Rosenfeld and Syr Riley each had five and Romero and All-City senior linebacker Alec Simpson had four apiece.
“I knew their quarterback could run, I knew that would be an issue for us and it was,” Canoga Park Coach Ivan Romero said. “He made things happen on broken plays and that’s what good players do. What really hurt us was that score at the end of the half. It happened against Birmingham too. We need to buckle down and not let that happen again.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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