Ill Wind Befalls Taft at Palisades

Taft High was blown out of the City Section 3-A Division football playoffs Friday night.

Not by Palisades, its opponent, but by buffeting winds at Palisades High.

In a game in which just two touchdowns were scored into the driving wind, Palisades defeated Taft, 34-27, to advance to the 3-A final. In next week’s championship game, the Dolphins play Franklin, a 19-12 winner over Chatsworth on Friday.

“The wind was a really decisive factor,” Palisades Coach Jack Epstein said. “We won the toss, and my decision was to make sure we got the wind in the fourth quarter.”

The Dolphins scored 16 fourth-quarter points to offset a stirring performance by Taft running back Terrance Britt, who rushed for 150 yards in 19 carries and scored 3 touchdowns.

Britt had given Taft a 27-26 lead with 5:48 left when he broke loose on a draw play and bolted 74 yards for a touchdown. But a short kickoff gave the Dolphins the ball at the Taft 46 and four plays later, Palisades quarterback Perry Klein hit Harold Champion with a 25-yard, game-winning touchdown pass.

Taft (8-3) marched to the Palisades 38-yard line with less than a minute to play but the drive--and the Toreadors’ season--expired.

Klein sparked Palisades (9-2) into the championship game, completing 22 of 41 passes for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns. Champion, who had nine catches for 161 yards, scored on pass plays covering 10, 19 and 25 yards. All three touchdown passes were fade patterns into the corner of the end zone.

Taft led, 14-12, at halftime but Klein’s 19-yard scoring pass to Champion gave Palisades an 18-14 lead midway through the third quarter. Taft came back to take a 21-18 lead when Britt scored the second of his three touchdowns on a five-yard run late in the third period.

Klein promptly drove the Dolphins 93 yards midway through the fourth quarter, with Lou Randall running the final 10 yards for the touchdown with 6:41 to play. Klein threw to Mario Robinson for the two-point conversion, giving Palisades a 26-21 lead before Britt’s run gave Taft its last lead of the game.

Both teams scored two touchdowns in the first half with the wind at their backs.

The Toreadors were held to 20 yards and one first down in the first period, but it was a different story with the wind at Taft’s back.

On their first possession of the quarter, the Toreadors went 59 yards for a touchdown. Britt’s nine-yard run and Adam Zutler’s kick cut Palisades’ lead to 12-7 with 7:35 left in the half.

Taft got the ball back minutes later at its own 44 and five plays later, Rich Cosentino hit Byrd on a crossing pattern and the junior running back went 36 yards for a touchdown. Zutler’s kick put Taft ahead, 14-12, with 1:21 left in the half.