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Sports

Dolphins Win Wild West Shootout

Pali High's football team beats University 35-28 for its first win.

In a game dominated by the offense, it was a defensive stand that made the difference in Friday afternoon's football opener between and host Los Angeles University.

University drove to the Dolphins' 5-yard line in the closing seconds, but couldn’t punch it across the goal line in four plays and Palisades hung on for a 42-35 victory—its first win of the season.

“Well, I wish we could've played a bit better but I’m still really happy that we got our first win," Palisades Coach Perry Jones said. "The offense played well most of the game and the defense came up big at the end.”

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The Wildcats started off strong, running the ball effectively and capping off the drive with a Tevin Epps touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. It didn’t take long for visiting Palisades to answer, as senior running back Mylz Blake broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run. The ensuing extra point gave the Dolphins more points than they had scored in the previous three games combined.

On University's next drive, quarterback Alif Vannah had a pass intercepted and Blake scampered 30 yards for his second score on as many carries, giving the Dolphins a 14-7 lead.

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“We made an adjustment against Blake on the first play, but we just couldn’t seem to line up against him,” University Coach Lee Lowe said. “We knew it would be dive all day, yet it still took us a while to figure it out.”

In what seemed like déjà vu to the crowd, Palisades' defense held again, and once more Blake took off on his first carry, this time for a 50-yard touchdown. After failing on the two-point conversion try, the Dolphins were up 20-7 and it appeared a blowout was in the making.

“We were just blocking really great," Blake said. "It was really easy for me to find some holes and I just took off.”

University had yet another three-and-out, and Palisades had a chance to virtually put the game away on its next possession, but a fumble recovery by the Wildcats seemed to give them renewed energy.

“We are here to win a City championship," said Lowe, who has revitalized a program that began the season having lost 24 games in a row. "I told the kids before the game that you have to deal with wins and you have to deal with losses. This is a tough loss but we can grow from here and get better."

Vannah scored from a few yards out, and just like that, it was a 20-14 ballgame. After another stop, University got the ball back and scored another touchdown, and the extra point gave the Wildcats a 21-20 lead.

“We struggled with containment on the outside and our coverage of their wideouts wasn’t too great," Jones said. "That's something we will work on and get better on for next week."

Palisades surged back in front, 27-21, and after the teams traded turnovers, the wild first half ended with the home team trailing by six points. 

In the second half, Palisades continued its offensive momentum, scoring on a touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Dodson to Ben Ingram. However, University returned the kickoff for a touchdown to pull back to within six points, 34-28. Dodson returned from a shoulder injury suffered in the Dolphins' Week 2 loss to Santa Monica.

The offenses slowed down for the balance of the third quarter, until Palisades broke yet another long touchdown run, this time by Justin Sinclair, who was back in the lineup after missing the Dolphins' previous four games with an injury. The two-point conversion was successful and Palisades entered the fourth quarter with a 42-28 lead.

University receivers made a few athletic catches—included a David Tyree-like helmet catch by junior Alvin Clark, who finished off the drive with an 18-yard touchdown, to narrow the gap to 42-35. Then, after Palisades went three-and-out, the stage was set for an instant classic.

The Wildcats converted on a fourth-and-two situation at the 16-yard line and had a first down at the Dolphins' 5-yard line with 30 seconds left, but Vannah threw four incompletions—the last one just off the hands of his intended receiver—and Palisades held on for the win. University has not won a league game since beating the Dolphins 42-14 in its league finale in 2007.

“It got tight in the end, but our kids held on strong," Jones said. "We tried our best, and we got that stop, which was great."

The loss dropped the Wildcats to .500 and they will try to bounce back against Fairfax at home next Friday afternoon. As for the victorious Dolphins, they will take on Hamilton in their homecoming game Friday at 7 p.m. at . 

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Palisades

20

7

15

0

42

University

7

14

7

7

35

Records: Palisades 1-5, 1-0; University 3-3, 0-1.

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