Taken Down

Turnovers Seal Dolphins’ Fate in 34-14 Nonleague Loss to Cleveland

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Riding a three-game win streak and full of confidence, the Palisades High varsity football team traveled to Reseda last Friday night expecting a resounding victory.   

Instead, the Dolphins took one on the chin from host Cleveland and were dealt their first loss of the season thanks to the big play ability of wideout Kory Hall, who exploited a one-on-one matchup down the sideline and caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Emiliano Lopez midway through the final quarter to clinch the Cavaliers’ 34-14 win.   

Having had to cancel its annual Charter Bowl game with Granada Hills two weeks  earlier because of poor air quality, Palisades filled its open date with a nonleague matchup versus the motivated Cavaliers, who shared the same bye week. In a battle of City unbeatens, Cleveland kept its undefeated record intact and avenged an embarrassing 39-0 loss at Palisades last fall.

Cleveland (4-0) improved to 6-8 all-time against Palisades and won for the second time in the teams’ five meetings over the last six seasons.

The Dolphins (3-1) suffered only their third setback in 20 games dating back to the spring of 2021.

The  combined record of the teams’ opponents heading into the contest was 3-19, so both were being tested for the first time. Cleveland passed.

Donovan Powell opened the scoring with a 13-yard run for the Cavaliers.Hall set up the score with a 35-yard interception return to the Dolphins’ 45-yard line. Palisades found itself behind for the first time all season.

Mikael King-Haagen answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Roman La Scala early in the second quarter, but Daniel Guzman’s one-yard plunge put Cleveland back on top, 14-7. Palisades had a first down at the Cavaliers’ six-yard line at the end of the first half, but came away empty when quarterback Zachary Lifton fumbled while being sacked and the home team recovered with one second left.

King-Haagen grabbed his second touchdown—a six-yard pitch and catch from La Scala, to tie it 14-14 early in the third quarter, but that was all the offense Palisades could muster. Andrew Shackelford caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Lopez five minutes later to put Cleveland ahead to stay. Hall’s touchdown made it 27-14 with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter and Powell tacked on a six-yard touchdown run after the Dolphins were unable to convert on fourth down deep in their own territory.

Chris Washington carried the ball 23 times for 152 yards, King-Haagen had five receptions for 65 yards and Evan Nehrenberg, Sayvour Riley, Amari Yolas and Eric Daniels all had six tackles on defense.

Braydon Sanford had four catches for 26 yards and Sean Grier had two catches for 50 yards. La Scala completed 10 of 19 passes for 112 yards and two scores while Lifton was 3 of 11 for 32 yards. Palisades was its own worst enemy, committing six turnovers (three fumbles and three interceptions).

Lopez threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns, Powell ran for 92 yards in 20 attempts and Hall had three catches for 91 yards for Cleveland.

Palisades built a 21-0 lead by halftime in the junior varsity game and went on to win 28-8, improving to 3-1 under first-year head coach Tharen Todd.

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