CATHEDRAL CITY — For the second year in a row, the Palm Springs High football team blew out archrival Cathedral City 48-7 in front of a packed house at Cathedral City High School on Friday.

There was never a question that the heavily favored Indians were in charge.

Palm Springs scored on its first, second, third and fourth possessions of the game. Throw in a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown by Nephi Garcia, and the score was 35-0 at the half.

“They have strength, a lot of speed and the ability to score on any play, and we gave them a lot of touches today,” Cathedral City coach Mitch Donnelly said, “and we just can't do that.”

The victory means the Indians finish in second place in the Desert Valley League, behind La Quinta and ahead of Palm Desert, both of which are also playoff bound.

La Quinta clinched the DVL title Friday when it beat Palm Desert 34-16.

The loss left the Lions winless in the DVL this season.

Palm Springs quarterback Michael Karls was the most prolific scorer in the game, racking up three touchdowns on the ground and two through the air.

“When the team plays good, then everything clicks,” Karls said. “We wanted to play for (head coach Steve Fabian). We didn't have a good outing the last time we were here, and he got hurt.”

The last time the Indians played at Cathedral City in 2007, not only did they lose, but Fabian was hit during a play while standing on the sideline and was hospitalized with a knee injury.

Karls scored his first touchdown through the air on a 40-yard strike to wide receiver Jordan White, and then ran the next two in on the following possessions.

On the Indians' fourth drive, he returned to the air and hit wide receiver Calvin Campbell with a 50-yard pass for the final score of the first half.

“They had a good defensive game plan that stopped the run on the perimeter, but they gave up the pass, and we have to be able to switch,” Fabian said. “In the playoffs when somebody takes something away from us, we've got to be prepared to switch strategies.”

Palm Springs won't know its playoff draw until Sunday, but Fabian said he was happy with the second-place finish and that it was preferable to a three-way tie for first place, which would have happened had Palm Desert beaten La Quinta on Friday.

“This way we're guaranteed a second-place seeding. With the coin flip, we could have ended up third and had to face (Citrus) Hill or something like that,” Fabian said.

Also contributing to the Palm Springs offensive attack was Garcia, who ran a punt back for a touchdown and had another 4-yard run for a score in the third quarter. He connected on six out of seven extra points.

Cathedral City finally got on the board late in the third quarter on a drive that began on its 26-yard line and lasted only two plays.

Facing a second-and-10, quarterback Jake Garcia connected with wide receiver Quinn Lee for about a 10-yard pass, but Lee dodged two tacklers then outran two more after the catch to score.

Palm Springs finished the regular season with a record of 7-2, 4-1 DVL. Cathedral City finished with a record of 1-9, 0-5.