Pali High Football Scrimmages Friday against El Camino Real

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

After lining up opposite their teammates for four weeks, Palisades High football players are excited that they will get to block and tackle opponents wearing different colored jerseys in a preseason scrimmage against El Camino Real at 5 p.m. tomorrow in Woodland Hills.

Both teams won their league and made the City Section Division I playoffs last fall. Palisades beat Venice to force a three-way tie atop the Western League, earned the No. 6 seed and fell in the quarterfinals to third-seeded San Pedro. The West Valley champion Conquistadores were seeded fifth and lost to eventual-champion Narbonne in the semifinals.   

Friday’s 30-play scrimmage, however, holds no postseason implications. It is merely an opportunity for both teams to run plays at full speed and with full contact to prepare for the long season ahead. Each team will be given three series of 10 downs, starting at the 40-yard line. If a team scores or if there is a turnover, the ball is returned to the 40 and the offensive team continues its series until it runs out of downs. There are no kickoffs or punts. The junior varsity and varsity scrimmages will be played at the same time on opposite halves of the field.

It is one final tuneup for the Dolphins, who are coming off their winningest season in two decades.

“I’m very excited for the scrimmage,” said senior linebacker Noah Karp, who had 90 tackles and two interceptions in 12 varsity games last fall.  “It’s a chance for everyone to get experience in a real-game situation and to solidify some positions. We’re getting better everyday, we’re bonding. It takes awhile for new guys to get the concepts and plays. On defense we’re incorporating more coverages and blitzes.”      

Junior varsity head coach Ray Marsden is not so much concerned with the result, rather getting a look at his freshmen who have never played a down at the high school level.

“We’re going to go over specific plays and specific situations,” Marsden said. “This is the time to try things out. We have some questions we need answered.”

As promising as the Dolphins have looked in practice, there are still many unanswered questions.     

“You learn a lot from these and my goal is to run a very minimal set of plays,” offensive coordinator Rocky Montz said. “It’s a litmus test to see how much we’ve improved since the start of camp.  We have a lot of young, talented players and I’m eager to see how our line performs. What’s the demeanor? What’s the tempo? Are we sloppy? Are there false starts?  Are we getting calls in on time? Then there’s how the quarterbacks play. Are they confident? Do they have the right footwork? Are they making good reads?” We’ll give everyone a chance to get in there and show what they can do.”

The two teams scrimmaged last season at Stadium by the Sea and Cameron Bailey, now a senior, had three touchdown catches in his first varsity action. The Dolphins hope their new turf field will be ready in time for their home opener Aug. 31 against Sylmar.

The season kicks off next Friday at Cleveland. The JV game is at 4 p.m. followed by varsity at 7.