By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Addressing his players minutes after the August 29 victory, Palisades Charter High School football coach Dylen Smith made it clear what the motivation would be at practice this week: “They took it away last year … now we have to go get it back!”

Smith was speaking about the bronze Charter Bowl trophy, which Granada Hills rode away with on the bus following last season’s 26-10 triumph over the Dolphins at Stadium by the Sea. It not only ended Palisades’ nine-game winning streak in the rivalry dating back to 2006, it marked the very first time Palisades lost the annual grudge game on home turf.

The rivalry is renewed Friday night, September 6 (varsity kickoff at 7:30 p.m.), when the two schools clash in the 17th Charter Bowl game. Palisades holds an 11-5 lead in the series (the contest was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and again two years later because of extreme heat in the Valley).

Palisades and Granada Hills achieved independent charter status in 2003—the first two high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District to do so. The Charter Bowl was established three years later, and since then, it is a date players on both sides circle on the calendar at the start of camp.

Prior to last year’s loss, the Dolphins had won nine straight by an average margin of 25 points, but Granada Hills prevailed, thanks to the tailback tandem of Kanye Martin and Darrell Stanley, and a stout defense that came up with two fumbles and an interception. It was the Highlanders’ first win in the series since head coach Bucky Brooks took the helm in 2019.

Palisades enters Friday’s matchup at 2-0, having beaten Dymally and Roosevelt—teams which run a similar style offense to that of Granada Hills. The host Highlanders are 1-1 and will try to bounce back from last week’s 53-30 loss at Banning.

Granada Hills won four of the first six games. Palisades won the next nine in a row before the Highlanders stole the trophy back last fall. Palisades is 6-1 at home and 5-4 on the road.

The teams first met in 1977 when the Highlanders edged the Dolphins 28-27 in a California tiebreaker in the City 4A quarterfinals in a matchup between John Elway and Jay Schroeder. The future Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks faced off again in the same round in 1978, and Elway’s team again came out on top, 31-12. Granada Hills won three of four regular season meetings from 1980-83, losing only in 1981.

Including games before the Charter Bowl, Palisades has a 12-11 advantage in head-to-head meetings. Palisades is 12-8 in regular season matchups. Granada Hills is 3-0 in the playoffs, including a 44-7 rout in the City Division I championship game two years ago in Valley Glen.   

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It took a while for the offense to get on track, but once it did, Palisades Charter High School’s varsity football team took control of the Thursday evening, August 29, nonleague game versus Roosevelt, winning 27-14 to improve to 2-0 in its second year under head coach Dylen Smith.

The Dolphins scored three touchdowns in a span of three minutes, 39 seconds in the second quarter to build a 21-7 lead and tacked on another score midway through the third quarter to go up by 20 points.

“They’re definitely a step up from the first week and ran their [Wing-T] offense much better,” said Smith, who improved to 9-3 all-time as the Dolphins’ coach. “I thought we could run the ball in an empty set to exploit them and I think we tired them out a bit as the game went on. There are six spots on the field to attack and they have to spread out to defend them all. We did a nice job moving left to right, not getting into any predicable pattern. Last year our offense was trying to catch up to the defense. So far this year it’s the other way around.”

Palisades entered the contest as one of the eight top teams in the City Section and stayed on track for an Open Division playoff berth.

Palisades failed to gain a first down in its first two possessions and Roosevelt drove 65 yards in eight plays to cap its second drive, taking an 8-0 lead on a two-yard run by Alan Ortiz on the opening play of the second quarter and a successful two-point conversion by Abraham Cardenas.

The Dolphins appeared to get on the scoreboard on the fourth play of their ensuing drive but an illegal block penalty nullified a touchdown. However, tailback Harrison Carter swept left on the very next play and ran eight yards for a touchdown at the 10:04 mark of the second quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out, Palisades got the ball back, and on the third play of the drive, quarterback Jack Thomas ran 19 yards on a keeper to put the Dolphins in front 13-8 and Jack Malloy added the extra point.

Palisades alertly pounced on a bouncing ball on the ensuing kickoff, and on the second play, Thomas rolled to his right to buy time and found double-covered tight end Augie Evans in the corner of the end zone. Malloy’s extra point made it 21-8 with 6:35 left before halftime.

Jayden intercepted a pass near midfield to snuff out Roosevelt’s next drive but the Dolphins turned it over on downs at the Roosevelt 28.   

The visiting Rough Riders got the ball first in the second half, but on their fourth play, cornerback Jackson Kaufman recovered a fumble and Palisades took over at its 35.

Six plays later, Thomas threw to King Demethris for a touchdown to extend the lead to 19 with 7:34 left in the third quarter but Malloy’s extra point try was wide—his first miss of the season.

Manny Madrigal’s one-yard quarterback sneak capped a 15-play, 69-yard drive that pulled Roosevelt (1-1) to within 13 points with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, but after a missed 27-yard field goal, the Rough Riders got a chance to narrow the deficit even more.

Instead, they lost yardage and had to punt, and this time, the Dolphins kept the ball on the ground and gained two first downs to run out the clock as the home fans at Stadium by the Sea sang “Happy Birthday” to defensive coach Kelly Loftus.

“The defense really held us in there until the offense woke up,” said Thomas, a junior transfer from Loyola who has thrown for five touchdowns and run for two more in the Dolphins’ first two games. “Once we scored, got a quick stop, then scored again, we felt we were in command. Still, we know we can be a lot better.”

Thomas completed 10 of 18 throws for 140 yards, Carter finished with 95 yards in 12 carries, and LeHenry Solomon made three catches for 65 yards. Kenneth Sanchez led the defense with 13 tackles, Cash Allen added 12, and Mike Tobin and Jake Treibatch each had 11.

Palisades routed Roosevelt 42-14 in nonleague action last year on its way to earning the No. 6 seed in the Open Division.

Lifelong Palisadian and 1980 Pali High graduate Sam Laganà—now the stadium announcer for the Los Angeles Rams—was recognized before kickoff for his decades of service in the community. Afterward, he presented the game ball to the officials for the coin toss.

In the preceding junior varsity game Roosevelt scored 26 unanswered points to pull out a 34-28 victory. Palisades drove to the five-yard line in the final seconds, but a final pass was deflected away in the end zone as time expired.

The Dolphins’ JV hosts Granada Hills at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 5 while the varsity travels to Granada Hills for the schools’ annual Charter Bowl on Friday, Sept. 6.