Paly football had yet another exhilarating season with massive highs and brutal lows. Ultimately, they finished with a 5-5 regular season record and went on to win the Division IV CCS Championship. Their season fell short in the Northern California Championships suffering a hard-fought 28-26 loss agianst St. Vincent de Paul High School.
After winning their first two games of the season, Paly went through a really rough patch where they played tough competition. They ended up losing their next four games and got shutout in three of them. Despite the major setback, Paly continued to persevere, winning three of their last four games and barely qualifying for CCS.
One of the best wins of the regular season for the team came on Senior Night, where they defeated Half Moon Bay 61-23, breaking their four game losing streak, and overall giving them momentum for the rest of the season. This win allowed them to get going both offensively and defensively.
“We started establishing the run early, and we were able to throw the ball,” Head Coach David DeGeronimo said. “When we do that it is hard to stop us.”
After finishing the regular season strong, including a thrilling must-win victory over King’s Academy 34-28 in the final game of the season, the team qualified for Division IV of CCS, where they breezed through their first two games.
“We were throwing a lot of new plays in there where we all understand our jobs now,” wide receiver Jason Auzenne (‘24) said. “I think that was a big part [of why we won].”
As a result, Paly made it to the CCS Division IV Championship, where they faced Mountain View. The game was sensational throughout, with big plays from both teams. On the final drive of the game, while Paly was up seven points, Mountain View scored a touchdown. Instead of kicking an extra point for the tie and overtime, Mountain View opted to go for a two-point conversion, attempting to take the lead. Paly came up with the massive stop and won the game 34-33.
“The game was one of the grittiest and most unpredictable games I’ve ever played, and we were all so grateful to come away with the win,” senior safety Beau Revenaugh said.
Ultimately, Paly fell short in the NorCal Championships, but overall had another extremely successful season.
“Even though we started the season off slow, our improvement really shined throughout the last few games of the regular season as well as the playoffs,” Revenaugh said. “Our offense was really stagnant and we had a few games where we didnt score at all, but eventually we were scoring 40+ points in most of the rest of our games.”
Paly had big-time contributions from a bunch of different players throughout the season. Wide reciever Jason Auzenne (‘24) notched nearly 100 total yards per game and added a total of 21 touchdowns through the air and on the ground. Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Fung added 60 yards per game and 7 touchdowns of his own. Second-year starting quarterback Declan Packer improved from last year and throughout the season. He threw for nearly 2500 yards and 23 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions, while completing 64% of his passes. Senior running back Jeremiah Madrigal ran for 60 yards a game and added 12 rushing touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Joseph Kessler averaged 15 tackles per game. Senior linebacker Anthony Mendoza led the team with six sacks. Jeremiah Fung added three interceptions on top of his stellar offensive play. Revenaugh added an impressive eight tackles per game as a defensive back.
Despite ending on a loss, the team is proud of the way they battled through adversity and ultimately won their second CCS championship in a row. The team’s future is bright heading into next season.
