Palisades Demare Dezeurn intercepts a Venice pass in the third quarter.
Photo: ANGELICA HERNADEZ
Although the Palisades Dolphins came away with a victory on Friday night at Venice, remaining undefeated, Coach Dylen Smith was not satisfied with his players’ performance.
“The score was close, way too close,” Smith said. “We left at least four touchdowns on the field, and our defense should have made more stops.”
Players were enthusiastic about the win. But the game wasn’t decided until 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Enzo Allen intercepted a pass from Venice quarterback junior Bennett Dome.
After the game, an assistant coach told Dolphin players. “We’re not celebrating this one. We’re training until we get it right.”
With the win, Palisades is now 7-0 and ranked third in the City Section behind San Pedro and Carson.
Quarterback Jack Thomas threw for 473 yards and five TDs and also rushed for 52 yards. Thomas is averaging 313 passing yards per game.
Pali’s Harrison Carter had two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. Junior Malachi Ross is credited with one TD and 154 passing yards. Junior Demare Dezeurn with three TDs and 151 receiving yards.
Sophomore kicker Carter Schwartz is credited with 6 PATs.
Throughout the game, the score bounced back and forth between the two teams. Overall the stats were equal, Palisades had 80 plays with 27 first downs, Venice 78 plays with 28 first downs. Pali had possession 24 minutes, Venice possessed the ball 23 minutes. Thomas had 25 pass completions, Dome had 24.
Venice scored first, two minutes in the first quarter, but missed the extra point. Four plays later, Carter had his first touchdown, with the PAT good. Venice responded with a TD and extra point, and then Palisades returned the favor. Tavian Talbert intercepted a Gondolier pass to give Pali possession going into the second quarter. At the half the score was Venice 28, Pali 27.
The lead kept changing, with neither defense making stops. The score was tied 35 to 35, four minutes into the third quarter.
After a pick by Palisades Demare Dezeurn and then a quick touchdown, it seemed the tide was turning. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Pali was up 49-35. But Venice rebounded with two quick touchdowns.
With less than a minute to play and the score 56 to 54 in the Dolphins favor, Venice was threatening. It was only the last-minute interception by Allen that sealed the game.
Next up is a game against the University Wildcats (6-1) at Santa Monica College at 7 p.m.. JV plays at 4 p.m. This is PaliHi’s homecoming game.