Palisades dominates in quarterfinal victory over North Hollywood

Palisades has never won a City Section football championship but the Dolphins are confident this could be their year. They looked like title contenders Friday night, with Jack Thomas throwing for five touchdowns and running for another in a 56-21 rout of previously undefeated North Hollywood in the Division I quarterfinals.

The fifth-seeded Dolphins (10-2) will play at No. 1-seeded Eagle Rock in the semifinals on Nov. 22. The Eagles rallied from a 20-13 halftime deficit to defeat No. 9 Cleveland 27-20 Friday after escaping with an 8-7 victory over Crenshaw in the first round.

Thomas ended Palisades’ first drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass to LeHenry Solomon and shook off an interception in the end zone on the Dolphins’ second drive to engineer a 77-yard march capped by his nine-yard toss to Harrison Carter to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter. A five-yard scoring run by Omar Muhammed cut the lead in half, but Thomas connected with Max Hejazi on an 11-yard touchdown just before halftime.

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“We knew they were going to bring a lot of pressure and blitz seven or eight guys consistently so we tried to exploit that and get our receivers in space where they could make plays,” said Thomas, a junior transfer from Loyola who finished with 368 passing yards. “We’re a couple plays away from being undefeated. We’ve lost two games by a total of four points so we’re better than our record shows.”

Carter ran 83 yards for a touchdown on the Dolphins’ first play of the second half to make it 28-7, forcing the host Huskies (11-1) to abandon their vaunted running attack. Muhammed caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Andres Avila to get No. 4 North Hollywood within two scores, but Thomas scooted for a 22-yard touchdown on Palisades’ next drive, then hit Hejazi over the middle to extend the lead to 42-14 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

Kelley Warburton scored on a 30-yard pass off a trick play early in the fourth quarter as the Huskies tried to fight back. But a five-yard touchdown run by Deveron Kearney and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to reserve receiver Michael Meraz put the game away.

East Valley League champion North Hollywood outscored Granada Hills 36-30 for its first-ever Division I win last week. Palisades reached the Division I final two years ago but lost 44-7 to Granada Hills. The Dolphins made the Open Division last season, losing to Gardena in the quarterfinals.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.