Dolphins Push Birmingham to Brink

Pali High Football Falls 26-21 in Final Seconds of City Section Playoff Opener

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

One play away… that’s how close the Palisades High football team came to pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the program’s history last Friday night in Lake Balboa.

The home fans sat in stunned silence after quarterback P.J. Hurst connected with receiver Pierre Kaku for a 32-yard touchdown on fourth-and-10 that gave the Dolphins a one-point lead with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter.

On paper, 15th-seeded Palisades looked to be easy pickings for the second-seeded Patriots. On the field, however, it was a different story.

A 60-yard kickoff return and 28-yard catch by Tylin Scott set up a six-yard scoring run by Sterling Salguero with 20 seconds remaining and Birmingham escaped with a 26-21 victory in the first round of the City Section Division I playoffs.

“I got hurt earlier in the game but my team was counting on me to score and I used that adrenaline,” said Salguero, who entered the postseason as the leading rusher in Division I with nearly 1,800 yards and 17 touchdowns. “We ran a counter and I got hit at the line, but I ran him over, kept going and stretched across the goal line.”

Trailing by five points, the Dolphins got the ball back at their 19-yard line with 16 seconds left. A first-down pass was incomplete, then Hurst scrambled for nine yards before stepping out of bounds with eight seconds left. On the final play, Hurst completed a pass over the middle to Kaku. As he was being tackled, Kaku lateraled back to Gersan Osorio, who picked up a few more yards before being brought down at Palisades’ 33-yard line as the clock ran out.

“We were one play away… we just turned it on a little too late,” said Hurst, who finished his senior season with 2,065 yards passing and 21 touchdowns. “If we had 30 seconds more I know we could’ve scored.”

The lead changed hands four times in the final five minutes, Palisades going ahead for the first time, 15-14, on Hurst’s 40-yard strike to Kaku and a two-point pass to Innocent Okoh at the 4:47 mark.

Birmingham (8-3) needed only 14 seconds to go back in front, 20-14, on a 65-yard kickoff return by Eric Flowers, but the Dolphins were far from done, showing the resiliency that had won them four straight games and a share of the Western League title.

“My objective was to beat the corner… I just gave it my all to get the prize and P.J. put it in the perfect spot,” Kaku said of his second touchdown catch. “Also credit the offensive line for holding blocks to help P.J. have enough time to release the ball.”

“I was going to Pierre all the way and he made me look good one last time,” Hurst said, fighting back tears. “I’m going to miss playing with each and every one of these guys. This is the closest team I’ve ever been a part of.”

Birmingham led 14-0 and was driving deep in Dolphins territory late in the first half when Scott was stripped of the ball by safety Aaron Butler, whose teammate Donald Cook grabbed it out of the air and ran 90 yards for a score.

“That was a huge momentum swing,” Birmimgham Coach Jim Rose said. “Instead of it being 21-0, they’re within a touchdown.”

The Dolphins (6-5) may not have won the game, but they did win the respect of the West Valley League champions.

“No, we didn’t expect them to be as good as they were,” said Salguero, who opened the scoring  on a two-yard run late in the first quarter. “They hit us in the mouth and this was a good lesson for us not to take anyone lightly, even if it’s the 15th seed.”

Okoh was held to eight yards rushing but caught six passes for 53 yards, Osorio had five catches for 73 yards, Kaku had four receptions for 81 yards and Jake Taitelman had one catch for 10 yards.

“We put the ball in P.J.’s hands and he did a great job of executing on the two touchdowns,” Pali High Coach Tim Hyde said.  “The plan on that last kickoff was to squib it, but it went a little too far. Then they hit us on a quick fade instantly and just like that they’re in position to score.”

Marrio Lofton had 14 tackles, Dakota Hamilton and Alec Simpson each had 12, Willy Rosenfeld had nine and Ethan Lewis had six.

Simpson, an All-City senior linebacker committed to Nevada, ended his three-year varsity career with 227 tackles.

“We were the better team on offense and defense… we lost on special teams and kickoffs,” Hyde said. “Our goal this season was to get a 12th game and we took them down to the last play.”

In Hyde’s first season in 2013, the Dolphins were seeded 12th in Division I and lost at fifth-seeded Garfield, 27-20. Last year, they were seeded ninth and lost 36-31 at No. 8 Arleta.

“The last three years we’ve been heavy underdogs on the road and we’ve lost by a touchdown or less,” Hyde said.