By Dr. Mark Bamberger
Speak to Coach Tim Hyde about this season and you’ll hear all sorts of positive terms. You’ll hear him say that he’s “proud” of his team and the effort that they have put forth. You’ll hear him admire the “determination” and grit that they have shown over the last several games. You’ll hear him talk about “mental and physical preparation”, about “toughness” and about being “hard-nosed.” He speaks of how happy he is to see that all the conditioning that he has put the team through has paid off; how “excited” he is to recall, game by game, how his team has dominated one fourth quarter after the next. “All the hard work is paying off,” he notes. He’ll speak of how “fired up” he is to bring this team to a point where they have a real chance of making the Los Angeles City Division 1 playoffs for the second year in a row. “I may need to go back through the archives on this one,” Coach Hyde said, “but I don’t think that’s ever been done here at Pali. It’s the seniors of this group, he comments, who have brought us to this point.”
“I’ve told them since Day 1, I want an 11th game. I want this group of seniors to be remembered as a group who went to the Division 1 City Playoffs two years in a row. On Friday at 7PM (tonight) we have an opportunity to reach that goal. That’s a testament to our kids.”
Ask him about the 2013 Palisades Charter High School football team’s senior class and the word that repeatedly comes up is SACRIFICE. “Since January 1, 2013, our seniors have been sacrificing.” He adds, “They’ve been in the weight room, they’ve trained, and conditioned. They spent countless evenings in the Spring and Summer conditioning and working out. They’ve spent Saturdays at 7 on 7 tournaments in far away places. They’ve SACRIFICED.” “I told our coaching staff, my assistants, that if we are going to be successful this year, it’s going to take every ounce of energy out of these seniors. And we’ve done it. The seniors have done it. Naming names, Coach Hyde cites example after example of “sacrifices that our guys have made.” He starts with Gary Dorfman, a third team quarterback last season, who is now our starting fullback, pounding in for the winning touchdown against Harvard-Westlake. There’s Angelo Sink, a linebacker last year. And this year he’s playing tailback. That’s a sacrifice. There’s Marc Simon and arlos Herrera, two All-League defensive linemen; we asked them to play OLine. That’s a sacrifice, and now along with Nick Lunn, we may have one of the best left sides in the City. We’ve seen Matt Bamberger, who is now our starting tight-end, making big catches after big catches, and he’s been a lead blocker for us. We have Taylor (Mensik), in his first year playing in a pro-style offense after two years in a wishbone. That’s a sacrifice. Then there’s Joey Velez. He’s gone from third team fullback to a position he’s never played before. It’s his first time in a one-back scheme. That’s a sacrifice. And now look at him. He’s one of the top running backs in the City, with a chance of being one of the top three or four in rushing. We’ve got David Benavides, a guy who was a tight end. He sacrificed to become a defensive end for us. There’s the Saucedo Twins (Ismael and Josue). They were offensive linemen and linebackers last year. They sacrificed for the program and played D-Tackle. There are so many guys like that. Mychal Cooper has just matured beyond his years and has been a dominant force at nose guard. There’s Kellen Ware, our defensive MVP last year at corner. We asked him to play safety for us. That’s a sacrifice. There’s what I call the ‘Big Four’, the four senior offensive lineman. Starting with Alisina (Saee-Nazari), Nick Lunn, Herrera and Marc Simon. They’ve sacrificed to learn a new system and have led this offense to the way we’ve been able to perform. These kids all made tremendous sacrifices this year. The mentality that I’m trying to bring to this program is that you cannot win games unless you work. And you can’t work unless you show up and sacrifice. And that’s what these kids have done. I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of how they’ve matured. We’re a different team now than in January. A different team than in August and after Canoga. “And now we’ve got one left. Then I want to get that second one (that 11th game). Then who is to say we can’t get a third one? We just want to get into the Dance.”
“I’m honored and privileged to have coached them.”
Coach Tim Hyde, commenting on this year’s senior class.