Pali High JV Football Shuts Out Chatsworth

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High junior varsity football coach Ray Marsden wrote out a checklist before Friday afternoon’s nonleague finale against Chatsworth at Stadium by the Sea.

First and foremost was his team earning its first home victory of the season. Second was starting a winning streak heading into Western League play. Third was lifting the Dolphins’ record above the .500 mark. Fourth was for every player to get into the game.

The Dolphins accomplished all of those things and added one item of their own to the list, free doughnuts, following a 28-0 triumph.

“Give me that chocolate sprinkle!” one player could be heard shouting after the game. Marsden rekindled an old tradition by declaring his players would have doughnuts waiting for them Tuesday at nutrition–a just reward following their first shutout of the season.

Jack O’Rourke caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and added the two-point conversion to open the scoring, then Jack Higgins scored on a three-yard run later in the first quarter.

Darion Robinson ran 13 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and quarterback Jake Nadley snuck over the goal line from two yards out midway through the third quarter. Adam Cravens ran for the two-point conversion to close out the scoring. Nick Ghysels replaced Nadley under center in the fourth quarter and, fittingly, the defense got a sack on the final play.

“This is the third time this season that we’ve scored to start both halves and that’s a good recipe for success,” Marsden said. “Also, four different guys scored. The defense played great and didn’t allow a pass completion for the second week in a row. Jake [Nadley] continues to get better. We didn’t run any new plays and, most importantly, everyone got a chance to contribute.”

Max Palees, Andrew Alcaraz, Xavier Whitfield, Alejandro Cisneros, Robinson, Higgins and Cravens shared the load at running back,  Cristian Popescu and O’Rourke had big catches and Gregory Malachi and Cody Campbell each had three tackles for losses.

Even after the Dolphins’ most impressive win yet, however, Marsden believes his team is merely scratching the surface of its potential.

“We’ve got to work on giving the quarterback more time,” he said. “We also need to win the turnover battle. We get our kicker [Tommy Meek] back next week, so that should help our special teams. We’re back-to-back league champs, but a brand new season starts next week.”