Kai Stiansen, Junior
The Palisades football team has a much anticipated matchup on Friday against Salisbury. Palisades is 1-3 on the season and Salisbury is 0-4. This leaves an opportunity for both teams to try to turn their seasons around and finish strong. Palisades is hoping to win back-to-back district championships. Salisbury is looking to build off an impressive season last year, where they finished 6-4.
The start of this season for Palisades has been rough, especially with key players being injured. Starting safety and wide receiver Nick Petrillo broke his foot during the first scrimmage and is out for the entire season. Starting cornerback and wide receiver Scott Segreaves injured his knee and returns to action this week. Steven Lilly, who plays middle linebacker and fullback, dislocated his knee cap during summer practices and returned to playing last week. But now, starting running back and linebacker Kai Stiansen could be out for the rest of the season with a torn patella.
After talking to Palisades head coach, Rami Moussa, this is the game plan for Palisades. The plan consists of adding a few trick plays to the call sheet and trying to get the ball into playmaker Kyle McGrath's hands. Also, the Pirates are trying to pound the ball up the middle with muscular running back Steven Lilly. Finally, Coach Moussa wants Quarterback Jaden Newton to continue throwing for a lot of yards.
Now on the defensive side of the ball, the plan for Palisades is to stop Salisbury's quick quarterback, Nicholas Beck. Beck is one of the league's top players and makes plays both on the ground and in the air. He uses his speed and accuracy in throwing the ball to help his team. Palisades is looking for top linebacker, Steven Lilly, to slow down Beck.
Palisades’ first win was against Pen Argyl and their three losses were against Wilson, Bangor, and North Schuylkill. In the first game, Palisades lost to Bangor 28-0; they were missing star receiver Nick Petrillo after he broke his fibula during their scrimmage. Palisades had 3 fumbles lost inside the red zone. The Pirates could not hold onto the ball, even when they were close to scoring. Coach Moussa noted after the game that the score did not reflect how they played.
In week two, the Pirates played Wilson who at the moment is 5-0. They lost again 42-7. Wilson has two students on their team who are division one athletes. Next Palisades beat Pen Argyl 27-0. Kai Stiansen had 141 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Kyle McGrath had 87 receiving yards and 1 touchdown and Jaden Newton had 123 passing yards and 1 touchdown. This game was the best Palisades has played all year. The defense held Pen Argyl's high-powered offense to zero points. The next week they played the number 1 ranked 3A team in the state, North Schuylkill. Palisades lost 52-12. The Pirates are looking to turn the season around this week and get a victory.
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