Vikings Win Battle by the Beach

Palisades Football Is Shut Out in Second Half of 42-7 Loss to Santa Monica

Last Friday night’s intersectional game against Santa Monica was an opportunity for the Palisades High varsity football team to answer questions about how far it has progressed since last season. By the time it was over, coaches and players could only admit the Dolphins still have forward progress to make. The Vikings turned what had been a close game at halftime into a laugher, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half on their way to a 42-7 win at Santa Monica College. It was the most lopsided victory by either team in a rivalry that dates back to 1979. “What’s most disappointing is that we didn’t play as hard in the second half as we did in the first half,” Pali Head Coach Leo Castro said. “If we had, it would have been a much more competitive game.” Part of Palisades’ second-half meltdown could be attributed to fatigue. After all, most of the Dolphins’ starters play both ways. “Sure conditioning was part of it,” Castro said. “It’s not the only factor, though.” While Palisades coaches questioned their players’ desire, credit must also be given to Santa Monica Head Coach Zach Cuda for doing his homework. He was an assistant under former coach Mike Burnett last season and witnessed Pali quarterback Raymond Elie give the Vikings fits with his ability to scramble out of the pocket. Santa Monica hung on to win the game, 24-14, but Cuda was taking notes. “Their quarterback gave us all kinds of problems a year ago, so we worked on containment all week in practice and our kids were much better prepared this time,” Cuda said. “We decided that If he’s going to beat us, make him put the ball in the air.” Ironically, Palisades’ best drive produced no points. The Dolphins received the opening kickoff and marched 56 yards in 14 plays, converting three fourth downs in the process. From there, however, things went awry. Deonte Baker found a seam in the Vikings’ secondary but could not hold on to a pass from Ealy at the 10-yard-line. A sack and an illegal procedure penalty pushed Pali out of field goal range, forcing the Dolphins to punt. Santa Monica, which now leads its beach rival 13-6-2 in head-to-head meetings, answered with an 87-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. After forcing a fumble by quarterback Ryan Katz at the Vikings’ 35-yard-line, Palisades tied the score on Robert Gillett’s one-yard plunge early in the second quarter. The Dolphins had a chance to take the lead after Elie recovered a fumble and returned it to the Santa Monica 26-yard line. However, Joe Berman missed a 44-yard field goal wide left. Katz threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to David Naylor six plays later to put the Vikings ahead to stay, 14-7. The second half was all Vikings. They scored touchdowns on their only two possessions of the third quarter and put the game away with Katz’ 37-yard touchdown pass to George Allen on the first play of the fourth quarter. Vincent Lawrence closed out the scoring on a 10-yard run with 7:10 remaining. Backup quarterback Michael Latt took over for Elie on Palisades’ last two possessions, both of which were three-and-outs. “We took Ray out because the game was out of reach and we wanted to get Michael some reps,” Castro said. Sudsy Dyke caught three passes for 42 yards and Gillett had three receptions for 37 yards and 43 yards rushing in nine carries. Palisades’ frosh/soph lost to an older, bigger Santa Monica junior varsity squad 34-0 last Thursday at Santa Monica High.