By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
The objective for the Palisades High varsity football team on homecoming last Friday was simple: beat Fairfax at its own game.
The Lions’ modus operandi in recent years has been to run the ball, yet they were unable to do so with any consistency against a Dolphins defense that grows more and more confident every snap.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
After spotting the opposition an early lead, Palisades scored 27 unanswered points and sent its fans home happy with a 27-15 victory that kept the Dolphins in the hunt for the Western League title with two weeks remaining.
“Just another hard-nosed league battle,” Pali High Coach Tim Hyde said. “We played extremely hard for four quarters and we won the second half. That’s what matters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… top to bottom this is the best the league has been since I’ve been here.”
Marrio Lofton intercepted a pass on the third play from scrimmage, but the Dolphins turned the ball over on downs at midfield.
The Lions (6-2, 1-2) drove 53 yards in 11 plays, taking a 7-0 lead on Aaron Walton’s eight-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
Lofton fumbled on Palisades’ next drive, but made up for the gaffe by blocking a 25-yard field goal attempt to keep it a one-score game.
That seemed to inspire the Dolphins (7-1, 3-0), who marched 66 yards in eight plays, capped by Innocent Okoh’s eight-yard dash to the pylon.
Fairfax drove to the Dolphins’ 38-yard line but time ran out and the teams headed to their respective locker rooms tied at halftime.
“Our defensive gameplan was to contain the outside, make them cut back and make them pay in a physical manner and leave the guards unblocked so we could get clean reads and fill the B gaps to stuff their run game,” said linebacker Quinn Perry, who led the Dolphins with 17 tackles and intercepted a pass in the third quarter. “The QB rolled out, so I followed him and dropped back into my zone assignment, stayed low, anticipated the throw and popped right up when he released it.”
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Perry and 21 fellow seniors posed for pictures with their families in a ceremony before their last regular season home game. They hope to get at least one more game at Stadium by the Sea—in the City Section playoffs.
The second half was all Palisades. The Dolphins took four and a half minutes off the clock on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Okoh’s 20-yard run. Jonah Manheim ended Palisades’ next possession with a one-yard quarterback sneak and defensive back Cameron Bailey salted away Palisades’ seventh win in a row with a 25-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. Fairfax scored on a 25-yard pass with 30 seconds left.
Fairfax coach Shane Cox was impressed with the Dolphins’ blocking:
“That O-line is super. We tried to run the ball but couldn’t get anything going in the second half. They got stronger and we got weaker.”
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
