Oxnard Pacifica defeated Palos Verdes to win the high school football state championship in California on Friday night. A low-scoring game ended with disrespect.
The Sea Kings and Tritons did not shake hands.
It was an unfortunate end to the high school football game. The winning team did not exhibit class.
The California high school football championship came down to the wire.
Pacifica High School is located in Oxnard, California. It enrolls approximately 3,000 students in Grades 9-12.
Palos Verdes High School is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California. It enrolls approximately 1,500 students in Grades 9-12.
Both schools compete on the Division 3 level of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section. They met in the state championship on Friday and things got chippy during warmups.
The Palos Verdes football team comes out for warmups as members of Oxnard Pacifica begin some pregame trash talking pic.twitter.com/h8snbC72Q5
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) November 29, 2025
It was a back-and-forth game for the majority of four quarters. The Tritons ultimately finished undefeated at 14-0 with a 10-point win over the Sea Kings.
Palos Verdes and Pacifica did not shake hands.
Pacifica held a three-point lead over Palos Verdes with six seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Tritons had the ball on fourth down.
Because it was fourth down, they could not take a knee to run out the clock and win the game. They had to run a play so they did exactly that.
Pacifica ran the ball up the middle. Its ball-carrier broke loose for a 42-yard touchdown as time expired. He did not go down after he picked up the first down. He ran all of the way to the end zone.
The Tritons poured onto the field to celebrate on the midfield logo at the 50-yard-line.
Neither team shook hands after the game. The Sea Kings appeared willing to do so but the victors chose instead to taunt the fans and the opposing players. It was awkward.
The conclusion of the Pacifica/Oxnard (in the white) and Palos Verdes CIF-SS Division 3 final.
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) November 29, 2025
Pacifica scores a touchdown with six seconds left on 4th down before celebrating its 20-10 victory.
The teams did not exchange handshakes. pic.twitter.com/y0NVL5zOcu
Palos Verdes head coach Guy Gardner, in his 16th year with the program, also chose not to participate in the trophy ceremony. He was livid with the actions of Pacifica following the last-second touchdown.