Photo: Steve Galluzzo
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Three minutes in, it was crystal clear which team would win last Friday afternoon’s JV football game at South Gate.
The visiting Dolphins decided the issue early, scoring on their first offensive snap and returning interceptions for touchdowns on back-to-back plays before cruising to a 36-6 nonleague victory.
Afterwards, the message from Coach Ray Marsden was clear: celebrate the win, but learn from your mistakes and get better.
“We got complacent after that big lead… we took our foot off the gas and we can’t afford to do that moving forward,” Marsden said. “When we get to league it’s going to get a lot tougher.”
After forcing a three-and-out on South Gate’s first series, Palisades took over at the 40-yard line and Kaalan Day ran up the middle for a touchdown.
On the first play of the Rams’ next drive, Christian Duran read the quarterback’s eyes and picked off a sideline pass, returning it 32 yards for a touchdown.
On the very first play of South Gate’s ensuing possession, Jared La Violette jumped a rout and was off to the races. Forrest Brock tacked on the two-point run and Palisades led 22-0 before most of the fans had found their seats.
Day’s second touchdown on a one-yard run, followed by his two-point conversion run, upped the Dolphins’ lead to 30-0 by halftime.
“All credit to my linemen and fullback Adam Cravens—he threw a great block,” said Day, who began playing Pop Warner at the age of 10. “I read it and took it to the house. Being able to read your blocks is the most important thing as a running back and it helps when the guys up front are opening huge holes.”
Cravens got into the act early in the second half, capping Palisades’ first drive with a three-yard run to increase the margin to 36-0.
Brock and Nick Ghysels took turns under center and both engineered scoring scoring drives.
Freshman Matthew King suited up for the first time and was a standout at defensive end, sacking the South Gate quarterback to end the game.
Palisades improved to 4-0.
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