In General, McArthur Is Receiving Attention

Palisades junior quarterback David Koral made headlines Friday when he completed 46 of 51 passes for a state-record 583 yards in a 61-6 victory over Fairfax.

Many question the legitimacy of a record achieved with the benefit of 22 shovel passes, but no one doubts the ability of Palisades wide receiver Geoff McArthur, who caught 11 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns--none on shovel passes.

McArthur, 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds, is a 16-year-old senior. Two years ago, Palisades petitioned the City to allow McArthur, then a 14-year-old sophomore, to play on the varsity squad and McArthur has been a standout since.

McArthur played defense as a sophomore and went both ways last season, catching 48 passes for 738 yards and seven touchdowns.

This season, McArthur has caught 60 passes for 1,084 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has only two receptions on shovel passes--and he turned both into touchdowns by throwing scoring passes on the plays.

He also has returned two of his four interceptions for touchdowns.

“Geoff is the best player I have ever coached as a high school coach,” said Palisades Coach Ron Price, who has run programs at the high school and junior college levels for 36 years. “I had a player at Crenshaw [in 1981] named Al Bell who did it all on both sides of the ball. He eventually went on to play at Alabama. Geoff is like a carbon copy of Al Bell--except he’s bigger.”

Palisades (6-2, 4-1) concludes its Western League schedule Friday against Hamilton (2-5, 1-3). The Dolphins’ regular-season finale next week is against Calabasas Kilpatrick (6-2), which features Jermaine Marshall, the state’s leading rusher with 2,339 yards and 39 touchdowns in 161 carries.

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The playoff seeding meeting for girls’ volleyball will be held today with the postseason tournaments beginning Monday.

The final matches for the Championship and Invitational divisions will be played Nov. 19 at Occidental College.