Referees Give Pali the Boot

‘Roughing the Kicker’ Penalty Proves Costly in 39-35 League Loss to Lions

Football games between evenly-matched teams sometimes come down to the men in striped shirts, not the kids in uniform, and that was the case last Friday night in Palisades’ Western League opener against Fairfax. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, most of the key calls went against them and the result was a 39-35 loss that left both players and coaches frustrated. The most controversial call came late in the fourth quarter with the Dolphins ahead by three points. On fourth down at Palisades’ 20-yard line Fairfax attempted a game-tying field goal. Casey Jordan dove and blocked it and moments later Chris Hanuscin bumped into Lions’ kicker Jorge Reyes, Jr. The ball floated into the arms of Joseph Hyman, who returned it to the Fairfax 32. However, the officials convened and penalized Palisades 15 yards for roughing the kicker, giving Fairfax a first down at the Dolphins’ 12-yard line. The Lions scored the winning touchdown two plays later. “Their guy on special teams was lazy and I knew I could get around him,” Jordan said. “I ran in there, layed out and blocked it with my left hand.” Despite Coach Kelly Loftus’ protests, the call stood and instead of the Dolphins having the ball deep in their opponents’ territory with a chance to build on the lead, they found themselves behind once again. “There was never a doubt in my mind we were going to win,” Loftus said. “The explanation [the officials] gave me on that play doesn’t fly. Chris [Hanuscin] barely touched the kicker. In fact, their kicker is the guy who tackled Joe at the end of the play. So if anything it was running into the kicker which is only a five yard penalty and no first down. No way was that roughing.” According to Rule 9-4 of the 2008 National Federation of the State High School Associations Football Rulebook, “a defensive player shall neither run into the kicker nor holder, other than when “the defense touches the kick near the kicker and contact is unavoidable” or “contact is slight and is partially caused by movement of the kicker.” According to Loftus, the City assigner saw the play and the officials may be suspended one game. Of course, that’s no consolation to Palisades. “I’m not one to blame the outcome on one call but there was a lot of indecision and I never saw the head referee throw a flag and that’s his call,” Loftus said. “You never know what would’ve happened after that but if that blocked punt stands I like our chances.” After Reggie York returned the opening kickoff 95 yards to give the Lions a quick 7-0 lead, Pali quarterback Conner Preston responded with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Hyman, who later added touchdown catches of 30 and 9 yards and finished with eight receptions for 144 yards. Tyquion Ballard’s 38-yard scamper pulled Palisades within 26-21 just before halftime of a game that saw momentum swing with nearly every possession. “After that opening kickoff I had Alex [Anastasi] kick short to nullify their return but that cost us field position,” Loftus said. “We were giving them the ball at midfield every time.” Palisades’ Michael Tomakili recovered a muffed punt to set up Preston’s 9-yard strike to Hyman and the Dolphins were awarded the ball after a fumble on Fairfax’s next possession even though it appeared the Lions had recovered. Devyn Reyes played most of the game at center in place of injured starter Joe Brandon and opened running lanes for Khalid Stevens (101 yards in 16 carries) and Ballard (94 yards in 11 carries). Ballard added four catches for 25 yards. Hyman ran precise routs for four quarters and Preston delivered accurate throws where only his receiver could catch it. “Conner has a way of throwing the ball to s a spot that’s right where it needs to be,” Hyman said. “He did a great job. They couldn’t stop us.” York scored three times for Fairfax, which routed Pali 51-7 last year. This time, the Lions were up against a team that wasn’t about to quit. “We’re not the same team we were last year,” Preston said. “We never stopped believing we were going to pull it out.” Palisades took over with 5:59 left and drove from its own 26 to the Lions’ 36-yard line, setting the stage for yet another controversial call or, in this case, a no-call. Receiver Joe Hyman appeared to be interfered with while running down the sideline, allowing defensive back Don Tyler to intercept the ball in the end zone for a touchback. “We’ve had a hard time defending the pass all season but Don made a great play at the end,” Fairfax Coach Shane Cox said. “I thought they were going to score and we’d get it back with maybe a minute and a half left.” Fairfax took over on its own 20 and proceeded to run out the clock. “This is a sickening feeling,” Loftus said. “I feel like they stole our Halloween candy.” Palisades took its first lead, 35-32, on Khalid Stevens’ 37-yard run and subsequent two-point conversion run with 8:56 remaining. Despite the questionable calls, Loftus knows his team still had its chances. “We didn’t take care of the ball and they did,” he said. “We over ran some plays and missed some assignments.” As demoralizing as the defeat was, Palisades must shake it off quickly because four more league games remain. “The league is wide open this year,” Loftus told his players. “Nobody’s going to go undefeated. We just had our loss, now we have to make sure we take care of business from here on out.” Behind the passing of John Lemoine and the running of Kemonta Reed, Palisades’ frosh/soph squad beat Fairfax to improve to 5-1.