Victory seemed well in hand for the Palisades High JV football team going into the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s intersectional battle against Santa Monica. The Dolphins had an eight-point lead and were shutting down their opponents’ running game consistently.
However, the host Vikings didn’t give up, driving to the four-inch line. Deon Hoard had the ball ripped free by two defenders, but the referees ruled he crossed the goal line before the fumble occurred, tying the game 20-20. Kaloni Ford ran for the two-point conversion to give Samo the lead for the first time with 1:29 left and the Vikings held on for a 22-20 win.
After a scoreless first quarter, Kaelynn Lamothe made a one-handed catch to gain 40 yards and set up a short touchdown run by Stone Maderer. Innocent Okoh capped a long drive with a five-yard touchdown run that gave the Dolphins a 14-6 halftime lead. On Pali High’s first possession of the second half, quarterback Jonah Manheim connected with Jonathan Melendez on a 54-yard scoring pass to increase the lead to 20-6.
“Innocent is doing really well, we had a nice quick out to Jonathan that he took all the way and we were grooving,” Manheim said. “It was more mental than anything. We beat ourselves but Samo is the best team we’ll play and the best way to get over this is to win next week.”
Ari Sallus blocked an extra point in the third quarter and fellow freshman Alex Vaupen made a leaping interception in the fourth quarter for the Dolphins (1-1), who were trying to avenge last year’s 21-0 home loss to the Vikings.
“We had a bad week of practice and that carried over to the game,” Coach Ray Marsden said. “You’re never going to win with 15 penalties. Their first scoring drive got extended on a penalty and we had some at the end that cost us as well.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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