The Paly football team fell to Homestead 14-10 at Palo Alto High School on Friday night in Paly’s Homecoming game. 

Paly’s offense took a major blow when starting quarterback Declan Packer (‘24) would leave with an injury during the first drive. 

“Not having a backup [quarterback] really changed the way we ran things offensively,” tight end Oliver Marburg (’23) said.

The team rallied around running backs Jack Newman (‘23) and Jeremiah Madrigal (‘24) for the large majority of the offensive production from that point on. The game was extremely close throughout its entirety, with the lead never reaching above 10 for either team at any point. 

The atmosphere was impressive. Paly students showed tons of support, while also showing good sportsmanship throughout the contest. 

Paly now falls to 1-4, and will look ahead to another tough game next Thursday against rival Los Gatos.

“We have to start moving the ball because we know the defense is gonna do its thing,” Marburg said. “Hopefully Declan is back but dudes have got to step up regardless.”