Victory seemed well in hand for the Palisades High junior varsity football team heading into the fourth quarter of last Thursday night’s intersectional game against Santa Monica. The Dolphins had an eight-point lead and were shutting down their opponents’ running game consistently.
However, the host Vikings didn’t give up and inched closer on a safety with 10:14 left when Palisades’ punter was tackled in the end zone.
Photo: Steve Galluzzo
Later in the quarter the Vikings drove to the four-inch line, where Deon Hoard had the ball ripped free by two defenders. However, game officials conferred and ruled Hoard crossed the goal line before the fumble occurred, tying the game 20-20. After linging up in the Wildcat formation, Kaloni Ford ran for the two-point conversion to give Samo the lead for the first time with 1:29 left.
Palisades got the ball back at its 13-yard line and advanced to the 35 on a pass interference penalty, but two sacks and an incompletion brought up fourth and long and Innocent Okoh was tackled in bounds after a short completion as the host Vikings held on for a 22-20 win.
“Maybe coming off a 54-point win we were thinking we’re the best team in the City and we’re not,” Pali High head coach Ray Marsden said.
After a scoreless first quarter, Kaelynn Lamothe made a one-handed catch to gain 40 yards and set up a short touchdown run by Stone Maderer. Okoh capped a long drive with a five-yard touchdown run that gave the Dolphins a 14-6 halftime lead.
On Palisades’ first possession of the second half, quarterback Jonah Manheim connected with Jonathan Melendez on a 54-yard pass play that increased the lead to 20-6.
“Innocent is doing really well, we had a nice quick out to Jonathan that he took all the way and we were grooving,” Manheim said. “It was more mental than anything. We beat ourselves but Samo is the best team we’ll play and the best way to get over this is to win next week.”
Ari Sallus blocked an extra point in the third quarter and fellow freshman Alex Vaupen intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter for the Dolphins (1-1), who were trying to avenge last year’s 21-0 home loss.
“We had a bad week of practice and it carried over to the game,” Marsden said. “You’re never going to win with 15 penalties. Their first scoring drive got extended on a penalty and we had some at the end that cost us as well. Now we have to go win a big game at home.”
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