And that’s a wrap for our coverage of 2026 High School Football. Palisades, Samohi and St. Monica Prep all bowed out of the CIF Playoffs on Friday, November 13. Thank you for following our coverage all season long. Here is a look at these final games.
PALISADES DOLPHINS 31 @ CARSON COLTS 21
By Mark Dawson
@3d_athletics-media
The Dolphins’ championship ambitions were washed away in the rain Friday night as the Colts controlled all phases of the game to advance in the playoffs.
Carson established its advantage early, taking a 14–0 first-quarter lead and extending it to 22–6 by halftime. Palisades fought for opportunities, but Carson’s defense delivered a critical goal-line stand that prevented the Dolphins from narrowing the gap.
Palisades found moments of momentum in the second half, including a blocked field-goal attempt, a long completion to No. 10 and a field goal that cut Carson’s lead to 22–9.
But Carson answered with explosive offense, including a long touchdown run and a fourth-quarter scoring pass, stretching its advantage to 43–9.
For Palisades, the loss ended a season that included a Western League championship. Carson’s combination of offensive explosiveness, defensive stops and field-position control ultimately proved decisive.
The Dolphins end the season 6-4.
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Photo: Mariana Flynn @Barnburnershots
ST. MONICA PREP MARINERS 28 @ PARAMOUNT PIRATES 32
A dream season for St. Monica Prep turned into a Friday nightmare after injuries knocked out the heart of the Mariners’ offense and opened the door for a heart-wrenching 32–28 second-round collapse against the Paramount Pirates.
The Bradley Cassier era came to an abrupt end in the third quarter when St. Monica’s Division I-bound quarterback exited the game with an undisclosed injury. Senior standout Christopher Barnes was also forced out early with an injury of his own, leaving a depleted Mariners squad scrambling to hold onto a lead that ultimately slipped through their fingers.
Early on, St. Monica looked poised to pull off a massive road upset against the 10–1 Pirates. After throwing an early interception, Cassier caught fire—launching a 40-yard touchdown bomb to Barnes and connecting with Kailan Booker on a 4-yard scoring strike in the opening frame. When Evan Benet scooped up a Paramount fumble and rumbled 65 yards to the house, the Mariners were rolling with a 21–14 first-quarter lead.
Cassier delivered one final highlight in the second quarter, threading a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sergio Ortiz to send St. Monica into the locker room clutching a 28–22 halftime advantage.
The Mariners were shut out in the second half, while Paramount chipped away with a third-quarter field goal before Pirates running back Derrick Jackson punched in a 4-yard go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth.
Two late interceptions sealed St. Monica’s fate.
The Mariners finish the season 9-3.
SAMOHI VIKINGS 21 @ SANTIAGO (CORONA) SHARKS 52
It was a brutal night for the Samohi Vikings, who never led in a 52–21 road blowout against the Santiago Sharks that abruptly ended their CIF-SS Division 8 postseason run.
Self-inflicted wounds doomed Santa Monica from the opening whistle. Just minutes into the game on a wet track, a Vikings fumble handed Santiago a short field at the 18-yard line, and Sharks quarterback Jake Wilson punched in a 10-yard rushing touchdown to draw first blood.
To their credit, the Vikings threw two early counterpunches to keep pace. Running back Saul Buendia sparked Samohi with a long run before barreling in from a yard out to tie the game at 7–7. After Wilson answered with a 7-yard rushing score, Vikings quarterback Gryffin Glowacki launched a 56-yard touchdown bomb to Chandler Paysinger early in the second quarter to knot the score once again at 14–14.
That was the last time Samohi had any answers.
Santiago unleashed an avalanche of 38 unanswered points, fueled by a pair of catastrophic Vikings turnovers. After Wilson plowed in from 1 yard out to put the Sharks back on top, Santiago defensive back Isaiah Hughes jumped a route for a devastating 60-yard pick-six. Another Samohi interception on the very next possession set up a Sharks field goal, ballooning the deficit to 31–14 at halftime.
The Sharks poured it on in the third quarter with three more touchdowns—including a 10-yard scoring pass from Wilson to Tyler Jiricek and rushing TDs from Korey Saruwatari and Ivan Rosado—stretching the margin to an insurmountable 52–14. Buendia added a 20-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to provide a final bright spot, but a late fumble extinguished the Vikings’ last drive and sealed a tough end to their season.
Samohi finishes the season 7-5.
VENICE GONDOLIERS 15 @ GARFIELD BULLDOGS 14
On a night when almost everything went wrong for Westside football, the Venice Gondoliers stood tall in the pouring rain, outlasting a 10-win Garfield Bulldogs squad in a 15–14 mud-bowl thriller to punch their ticket to the next round.
With a heavy rain cell soaking the turf before kickoff, points were worth their weight in gold. After missing an early field goal on their opening possession, Venice’s defense forced a turnover on downs at the Garfield 32-yard line. Gondoliers quarterback Joseph Rotimi immediately capitalized, firing a 32-yard touchdown strike to Jayden Watts to give Venice a 7–0 first-quarter lead that held all the way through a soggy halftime.
Garfield finally broke through in the third quarter, grinding out a long march capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ceasar Reyes to Javier Vargas. Reyes plowed in for the two-point conversion, putting the Bulldogs ahead 8–7.
Venice refused to fold. The Gondoliers answered with a punishing ground-and-pound drive early in the fourth quarter, capped by Justen Key’s 4-yard touchdown plunge. Malachi Brown muscled across the goal line for the crucial two-point conversion, reclaiming a 15–8 advantage.
Reyes punched in an 11-yard rushing touchdown for Garfield moments later to trim the lead to one, but Venice’s defense slammed the door on the Bulldogs’ two-point conversion attempt to preserve the razor-thin margin. After a late fumble recovery and a booming final punt pinned Garfield deep, the Gondoliers walked off with the lone Westside victory of the night.
The Gondoliers (7-5) will face the Hamilton Yankees (7-5) in the next round on Friday, November 20.
Stay up to date with complete scores, standings, and weekly team schedules on our Westside high school football homepage.