Palmdale Defense Has Gone on the Offensive

At Palmdale High, the best offense is a good defense.

In three weeks, the Falcons have returned three interceptions for touchdowns and registered a safety. Mark Hendricks, Imad Rodriguez and Ty Chiaro each have touchdowns.

The 20 points by the defense are more points than have been scored by eight teams in the region--Bell-Jeff, Chaminade, Granada Hills, Lancaster, North Hollywood, Oak Park, St. Genevieve and Verdugo Hills.

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Grounded: Westlake must develop some semblance of a ground game to compete for the Marmonte League championship.

The Warriors have rushed for 80 yards while passing for 818. Defenses are coming at sophomore quarterback Zac Wasserman as hard as they can because there is little fear of getting burned by a draw play.

On defense, Westlake is solid with middle linebacker Matt Goldstein (who will make an official visit to Oregon Nov. 9) and lineman Karl Holley. The Warriors have allowed 276 yards rushing and 294 passing.

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Offerings: Josh Foster, a tight end and defensive end for Paraclete, looks every bit the 6-foot-7, 240 pounds he is listed on the roster.

He must look pretty good on film, too.

Foster said Arizona State and Vanderbilt have made him scholarship offers and Tennessee is also interested.

“I’ve never had a kid offered a scholarship this time of year,” said Steve Hagerty, Paraclete’s fifth-year coach.

That’s saying something. Before taking over at Paraclete, Hagerty was an assistant for seven seasons at Division I power Bishop Amat.