Palisades overcomes sluggish start to defeat Roosevelt

Palisades overcame a sluggish start by scoring three touchdowns during a three-and-a-half-minute stretch in the second quarter to take a 27-14 win over visiting Roosevelt on Thursday night to stay on track for a City Section Open Division playoff berth.

Harrison Carter scored on an 18-yard run with 10:04 left in the second quarter, and Jack Thomas scored on a 19-yard quarterback keeper just over three minutes later to put the Dolphins up for the first time, 14-8.

After Palisades recovered a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff, Thomas rolled to his right and threaded the needle to tight end Augie Evans in the corner of the end zone. The extra point made it 21-8 with 6:35 left before halftime.

Thomas added a 10-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver King Demethris to pad Palisades’ lead at the 7:34 mark of the third quarter.

Roosevelt took an 8-0 lead on a two-yard run by Alan Ortiz and Abraham Cardenas’ subsequent two-point conversion run to begin the second quarter.

Manny Madrigal’s one-yard quarterback sneak capped a 15-play, 69-yard drive that pulled the Rough Riders (1-1) within 13 points with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, but they went three-and-out on their next drive and Palisades gained two first downs to run out the clock.

“The defense really held us in there until the offense woke up,” said Thomas, a junior transfer from Loyola who has thrown for five touchdowns and run for two more in the Dolphins’ first two games. “'Once we scored, got another stop and scored again, we felt we were in control. Still, we know we can be a lot better.”

Palisades routed Roosevelt 42-14 in nonleague action last year on its way to earning an Open Division berth. The Dolphins (2-0) travel to Granada Hills (1-1) on Sept. 6 for the annual Charter Bowl.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .