Friday’s Highlights : Palisades Beats Washington, 14-6

Washington High School’s defense did its job, burying Palisades’ Perry Klein, the City’s leading passer.

But the defensive effort went for naught, as the Generals’ offense ground to a halt in a sea of penalties.

The result was a 14-6 victory for Palisades in a Crosstown League game Friday at Washington.

Washington’s offensive plan called for the Generals to control the ball, keeping it away from Klein and the Palisades’ offense. It worked, as they ran 58 plays to the Dolphins’ 39.

But they managed to score only six points, blowing several scoring possibilities because of penalties. All those yellow flags had Washington seeing red.

“I thought it was one of the worst officiated games I’ve ever seen,” Washington Coach Skip Dyer said.

The Generals were penalized 16 times for 142 yards, while the Dolphins were penalized 8 times for 70 yards. Most of the calls against Washington were either holding or for an illegal block.

“We had not one holding penalty last week, and we blocked the same way,” Dyer said. “It was just obvious that they didn’t know what they were doing or they were just anticipating . . . that we were going to hold.”

Defensively, the Generals put on a show. They blitzed eight men on almost every play, sacking Klein four times and causing him to rush his throws. Klein, who was averaging 370 yards passing a game, completed 11 of 27 passes for 172 yards. He threw five interceptions after throwing only four in the first five games.

“He got killed on every play,” Palisades assistant coach Steve Clarkson said. “He had to have felt like lunch meat in a lion’s den.”

But Klein did throw two touchdown passes, which turned out to be the difference.

He gave Palisades a 7-6 lead with 1:54 left in the third quarter with what has to be one of the easiest touchdowns of the year. After Palisades recovered a Washington fumble, Klein took a quick drop and lofted a pass to running back Robert Scott, who was wide open because the Generals’ defense blew an assignment. Scott took the short pass and coasted into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown reception.

Palisades took a 14-6 lead early in the fourth play, driving 64 yards with the aid of a controversial pass interference call. The drive culminated with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Klein to Carl Gilliam, who made wrestled the ball away from a Washington defender.

Washington’s only score came with three minutes left in the first half. Manuel Painia lofted a high pass and Brian Bridgewater ran under it and then ran between two Palisades’ defenders for a 44-yard touchdown pass play. It was Washington’s only completion of the game.

It was the only score of the first half, as Klein completed just 4 of 11 passes for 44 yards, with 3 interceptions.

Washington is 3-2-1 overall and 1-1 in league play. Palisades is 4-2 and 2-0.