Dylen Smith has had to find alternate field space for his football team.
After the Palisades Fire in January, the Palisades High School Dolphins have scrambled for field space. The team’s tenacity, under head coach Dylen Smith, paid off as they traveled to Harvard Westlake on August 28 to defeat the Wolverines 37-35.
Quarterback Jack Thomas threw for 410 yards and five touchdowns. Four of those touchdowns came from junior Demare Deseurn, who picked up 194 receiving yards.
According to the L.A. Daily News “Dezeurn, a four-star prospect with offers from programs such as Alabama, Arkansas and Miami, caught his stride at both ends of the game, scoring Palisades’ first two and final touchdowns. The junior pass-catcher, whose uncle Donte Dezeurn serves as the program’s position coach for receivers and defensive backs, leveraged the variety of his route tree, observing a defender’s position and taking advantage of the space, or lack thereof.”
Thomas threw 60 yards to King Demethris for a touchdown. Demethris, a senior had 94 receiving yards.
Senior Harrison Carter added to the point total with a rushing touchdown. Junior kicker Grayson Brooks is credited with a PAT.
The Dolphins will next meet Granada Hills in the Charter Bowl on September 5 at 7 p.m. at the Santa Monica College stadium. The Stadium by the Sea is undergoing renovation after the January fires
PaliHi and Granada Hills first met in 1977, when the Highlanders edged the Palisades 28-27, under quarterbacks John Elway and Jay Schroeder, two future Super Bowl Champs.
PaliHi and Granada achieved charter status in 2003, the first two high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District to do so. The Charter Bowl football game started in 2006, with Granda Hills winning the first one 10-3.
Last year, PaliHi beat Granada Hills 42 to 28, claiming the trophy. Over 19 years (the game was not played in 2020 because of Covid and in 2022, the game, which was supposed to be held at Granada Hills was cancelled because of the heat), Palisades leads the series 11-5.
Last season, PaliHi was 11-3 overall and 4-1 in league, with their sole loss to Venice 45-44. They were a win away from nabbing a Division 1 Championship, but lost to King/Drew 56-35 in the final on November 30.
Most of the games are away games for the Dolphins. The other home game at SMC is versus University High on October 17 and possibly senior night versus Fairfax on October 30.
Away games include Brentwood in the Sunset Showdown at 7 p.m. on September 12 and El Camino Real on September 19. League games start with Westchester at 7:30 on October 3.