PREP FOOTBALL : Friday’s Highlights : Klein Has Off Day, but Palisades Wins Anyway

Quarterback Perry Klein of Palisades High School wasn’t at his best Friday, but his best wasn’t required. A sluggish first quarter by Klein hardly mattered as the Dolphins routed winless Hamilton, 30-0, in the Crosstown League opener for both at Hamilton.

Klein, the leading prep passer in Southern California, completed only two of his first seven attempts with one interception. But Klein’s accuracy slowly improved, and he wound up completing 25 of 43 attempts for 307 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a pair of scores as Palisades improved its overall record to 3-2.

This year, Klein has completed 135 of 209 attempts for 1,850 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The cause of Klein’s subpar start was no mystery to Jack Epstein, Palisades coach.

“Perry was a little impatient early,” he said. “He was not doing all the things he usually does that make him a great player.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Palisades scored 17 points in the second quarter and ended any upset hopes that Hamilton (0-5) had.

Klein kept the Hamilton secondary guessing by alternating between flipping shovel passes to running backs cutting in front of him and throwing long, arching passes to receivers down the sidelines.

After Palisades took a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 27-yard field goal by David Suarez, Klein began to dominate.

His 42-yard pass to Harold Champion, the leading receiver in the City, gave Palisades a first down at the Hamilton three-yard line. On the next play, Klein flipped the ball to Lou Randall in the end zone, giving the Dolphins a 9-0 lead with 7:05 left in the half.

Klein scored the next touchdown on a four-yard run and also ran in a two-point conversion for a 17-0 Palisades lead.

It stayed that way until the final minute of the third quarter when Klein scored his second touchdown on a two-yard run. The score was set up by a 42-yard pass from Klein to Suarez.

Klein celebrated his second touchdown by doing a back flip in the end zone, something that Hamilton Coach Dave Lertzman did not appreciate.

“He’s a good player, he doesn’t need to do things like that,” Lertzman said.

Palisades didn’t seem to be more inspired after Klein’s acrobatics, but they did score once more. Randall’s two-yard touchdown with 4:58 left in the game capped a 73-yard, 10-play drive.

Epstein said that Hamilton played well but was simply out-manned.

“The quality of our athletes was just too much for their kids,” he said.

Hamilton’s Charles McKinzie led all rushers by gaining 134 yards in 23 carries, but he couldn’t prevent the Yankees from being shut out for the second consecutive week.

Other results:

CITY Washington 28, Manual Arts 12--Junior Sam Watson ran for 118 yards and 1 touchdown in 9 carries and Takim Brown ran for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns in 13 carries to lead the Generals over the Toilers in a Crosstown League opener at Manual Arts. Brown scored on touchdown runs of of 11 and 10, while Watson scored on a seven-yard run. Washington’s other touchdown came on an 85-yard kickoff return by Darrel Stephenson to open the second half. Washington is 3-1-1, while Manual Arts is 0-5.

Marshall 22, Hollywood 6--Tailback Tae Kim ran for 120 yards and 1 touchdown in 19 carries, and Darren Hubert threw two touchdown pass to lead the Barristers over the Sheiks in a Northern League opener at Hollywood. Hubert’s 21-yard touchdown pass to David Terrazas and two-point conversion pass put Marshall (1-4) ahead 8-0 in the first quarter. Hubert and Terrazas hooked up again, this time for an 18-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Jeff Holmes returned the kickoff 85 yards for Hollywood’s only score to make it 14-6. But Marshall came right back, driving 70 yards in 14 plays, culminating with a one-yard touchdown run by Kim to make it 22-6 at halftime. Hubert completed 8 of 14 passes for 100 yards. Marshall outgained Hollywood, 323-71. Hollywood is 0-4.

Bell 7, Los Angeles 0--Charlie Castro’s three-yard run with six minutes remaining gave the Eagles the win in an Eastern League opener at Los Angeles. Bell is 4-0, while Los Angeles dropped to 2-2-1.

Gardena 36, Crenshaw 15--Running back Derrick Duren rushed 17 times for 155 yards, including 7 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and quarterback Darren Woolwine passed for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Mohicans, The Times’ No. 3-ranked team, won their Pacific League opener at Gardena. Woolwine completed just 3 of 6 passes, but 2 were for touchdowns, including a 69-yard pass to senior wide receiver Damon Mack on the Mohicans’ first play from scrimmage. Woolwine later connected with Phil Eddy for a 54-yard touchdown play in the third quarter. Gardena is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in league. Crenshaw is 3-2 and 0-1.

Banning 15, Dorsey 14--The Pilots, The Times’ No. 4 team, scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with two minutes left to defeat the Dons, The Times No. 10 team, in the Pacific League opener for both at Harbor College. Andy Merida’s 15-yard scoring reception from John Maae cut Dorsey’s lead to 14-13 and Charlie Clark’s conversion run gave the Pilots the victory. Merida’s catch capped a 65-yard, 13-play drive. Chris Griffieth rushed for 119 yards in 26 carries for Banning (3-2). Beno Bryant scored on a 52-yard run for Dorsey (3-2).

Canoga Park 38, Van Nuys 20--Mike Conover rushed for 272 yards in 31 carries and had touchdown runs of 10, 27, 20 and 31 yards and added 1 field goal and 5 extra points in the Sunset League opener for both teams at Canoga Park. Canoga Park, The Times’ No. 9 ranked team, is 4-1 overall. Van Nuys is 2-2-1.

SOUTHERN SECTION Beverly Hills 17, Mira Costa 13--The Normans barely held off the Mustangs to escape with an Ocean League win at Beverly Hills. Willie Crawford’s nine-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for Beverly Hills tied the game, 10-10. In the third quarter, Michael Moore returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown to give Beverly Hills (6-1, 2-0) a 17-10 lead. Mira Costa (3-4, 1-1) kicked a field goal to pull within 17-13 entering the fourth quarter, and appeared to be driving for the win in the final minutes. But the Mustangs fumbled the ball away at the Norman 5 with three minutes remaining to give the win for Beverly Hills. Crawford finished with 78 yards in 17 carries. Bishop Amat 34, Servite 0--Mazio Royster rushed for 116 yards and 3 touchdowns in 16 carries, including a 54-yard scoring run, as the undefeated Lancers routed the Friars in an Angelus League game at La Puente High. Bishop Amat, The Times’ No. 6 team, improved its league record to 2-0 and overall record to 7-0. Servite, which lost last week to St. Paul, is 0-2 and 4-2-1. J.R. Phillips completed 9 of 19 passes for 152 yards for Bishop Amat.

Bell Gardens 30, Santa Fe 0--George Fimbres completed 13 of 25 for 170 yards and touchdown passes of 18, 35 and 1 yards in the Whitmont League game at Pioneer High. Santa Fe’s Richie Perez completed just 7 of 22 passes for 150 yards and was intercepted 3 times. Bell Gardens leading rusher was Joe Munoz who gained 92 yards in 10 carries and scored once on a 40-yard run. Bell Gardens, ranked No. 3 in the Eastern Conference, is 6-0 overall and 4-0 in league. Santa Fe is 3-4, 1-3.

Baldwin Park 32, Bassett 0--Kirk Gair completed 14 of 20 passes for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for a fourth touchdown to lead the Braves over the Olympians in a Montview League game at Bassett. Gair threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Bob Levesque in the second quarter to give Baldwin Park a 9-0 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half. Gair made it 16-0 with a one-yard touchdown run two minutes later. Gair threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Javier Jimenez with 2:32 remaining in the first half to make it 23-0, and the Braves took a 25-0 halftime lead when Bassett snapped the ball out of the end zone. Gair closed out the scoring in the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Levesque, who caught 4 passes for 133 yards. Bruno Haro caught 6 for 75 yards. Baldwin Park is 6-1 overall, 2-0 in league. Bassett (5-2, 1-1) managed only 113 total yards.

Montebello 42, Whittier 0--Adam Avina had touchdowns runs of 11, 74, 51, 65 to lead the Oilers over the Cardinals in a Whitmont League game at Montebello. Montebello is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in league. Whittier is 3-4, 2-2.

Hart 19, Burroughs 0--In a battle of highly rated quarterbacks, Darren Renfro completed 15 of 21 passes for 251 yards and 1 touchdown to lead Hart to an upset win in the Foothill League game at Burroughs. Renfro, the Southern Section’s second leading passer, has completed 125 of 191 for 1,654 yards and 16 touchdowns. Complementing Renfro was Craig Whitten gained 125 yards in 23 carries. Hart (6-1, 2-0), The Times’ No. 10 ranked team, limited Burroughs (6-1, 1-1), ranked No. 9, to just 76 yards total offense. Jeff Barrett of Burroughs, who was averaging 177 yard per game passing completed just 9 of 23 for 82 yards and had 1 interception. Burroughs was unable to get inside the Hart 35-yard line.

Santa Monica 49, Culver City 22--Glyn Milburn had 241 yards and touchdowns runs of 33, 34, 88 and 54 yards in just 14 carries in the Ocean League game at Culver City. Milburn added a fifth touchdown on a 28-yard punt return. He left the game with 4:48 left in the third quarter with the Vikings leading 35-8. In six games Milburn, the leading rusher in the Southern Section, has gained 1,560 yards and scored 25 touchdowns in 170 carries. The Santa Monica defense had 11 sacks including 3 by defensive end Nick Satriano who finished the game with 11 tackles. Santa Monica is 6-0 overall, 2-0 in league. Culver City is 0-6, 0-2.

Los Altos 10, Diamond Bar 7--The Conquerors, who outgained Diamond Bar, 238-34 in the first half but still trailed, 7-3, got a 29-yard touchdown pass from David Olson to Blake Hayward with 4:29 left to ensure victory in the Sierra League at Los Altos. Diamond Bar, which scored on Scott Hatter’s 38-yard interception return in the first quarter, had a first and goal from the 9-yard line, but missed 28-yard field goal with 1:38 left in the game. Olson finished with 235 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 of 23 completed passes. Diamond Bar is 5-2, 0-2. Los Altos is 6-1, 2-0.

Crespi 52, Notre Dame 14--Russell White continued his rampage, with 4 touchdowns and 145 yards on 19 carries in the Del Rey League game at Notre Dame. White has totaled 24 touchdowns and rushed for 1,264 yards in 7 games and 111 carries. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that the Celts, The Times’ No. 2 ranked team, have scored more than 50 points. Notre Dame took a brief 7-0 on Jere Deranja’s first quarter touchdown.