Jameson Della Bella ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns while Robert Holohan ran for a touchdown and threw for one more as Palisades dominated Hamilton 35-18 Friday night in a Western League showdown.
The Dolphins’ defense was up to the task against Hamilton’s highly touted quarterback Thaddeus Breaux, intercepting two of his passes and sacking him four times.
“It was fourth down, we had to make something happen, I saw him throw and I just ran full speed and dove for it,” said safety Aidan Wilson-Turner, who picked off a pass over the middle at Palisades’ 18-yard line to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard late in the first half.
Breaux, a sophomore who has received a scholarship offer from UCLA, threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s 46-30 loss to Palisades but was 27–of-44 passing for 217 yards Friday — most of that yardage in the fourth quarter with the outcome long decided. He threw scoring passes of eight, 11 and four yards.
“The defensive line did a great job putting pressure on him,” Wilson-Turner added. “Our job in the secondary was to stay deep, playoff off them and stay true to our zones.”
Palisades (4-3, 3-0) took a major step toward defending the league title with only games at fifth-place Fairfax and at home versus last-place Westchester remaining.
Hamilton, which fell to 3-5, 2-1, last won the league in 2014.
Della Bella’s six-yard run gave Palisades a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter and the Dolphins increased their advantage to 35-0 early in the third quarter on Holohan’s 13-yard pass to Go Moriya and his four-yard quarterback keeper.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.