Savyour Riley had three touchdowns for PaliHi against Dymally.
Palisades High School football improved to 9-3 on the season with a 42-14 win over Dymally on November 10 at Stadium by the Sea.
With that win, the Dolphins now are in the semifinals of the CIF L.A. City Section Division I Championships and will face Narbonne at home on November 18 at 7:30. Residents are invited to come down and cheer for the team.
The coaches were asked at the Thursday practice, what it would take to beat Narbonne.
“Heart — and focus,” they said.
To make it to the semis, PaliHi’s quarterback Roman LaScala scored the first touchdown with nine minutes left in the first quarter. Kicker Kellan Ford would make the first of six PATs, giving the Dolphins an early lead.
The first quarter ended 7-0, when neither team was able to move the ball.
Dymally scored five minutes in the second quarter, and it looked like it might be a tight game.
But on the kickoff to PaliHi, it only took five plays to score, with Christopher Washington carrying it in from the Dymally 15-yard line. At the end of the first half Pali was up 14-7.
At the start of the third quarter, when Dymally was unable to make downs, the team punted and Marcus Brown, Jr. returned it to the Challenger’s four-yard-line. The Dolphins next play was a touchdown for Brown. For the game Brown is credited with 75 punt return yards
Dymally would score its second touchdown about six minutes in the third quarter. Then Palisades defense stepped up big time, crushing any attempt by the Challengers to move the ball.
The defense had a season-high eight sacks, three by Evan Nehrenberg, two by Eric Daniels, solos by Cash Allen and Immanuel Robinson and one combined by Jake Treibatch and Jesse Ettus.
Ettus, a sophomore, is credited with seven tackles and seven assists and Nehrenberg, a junior had four unassisted tackles. Allen, a sophomore, had three solo tackles and seven assists and another sophomore Treibatch had three solo and four assists. Seniors Marcus Brown had three solo tackles and five assists and Savyour Riley had seven tackles (two solo and five assists).
Pali blew the game wide open when Riley scored three times with one receiving and two rushing touchdowns.
The sixth seeded Narbonne beat the second seed Carson at Carson 34-32. The Gauchos went ahead 20-7 in the first quarter and Carson spent the game playing catch up. Fifth-seeded Cleveland beat the thirteen seed Fairfax, 7-6 and now face the top seed Granada Hills Charter.
In the Open Division, there were two upsets. Eighth seed Eagle Rock defeated the number one seed San Pedro 38-31 in overtime. Birmingham, seeded seventh, faced Venice, which was seeded two.
At the end of regulation play, the game was tied 21-21. Birmingham, who has won the Open Division title the past two years, scored first in overtime and made the PAT. The score was 28-21. Venice scored with a touchdown, went for two and didn’t make it, ending with a dramatic 28-27 loss.
Quarterback Roman La Scala ran the ball in for a touchdown.