Kennedy, Palmdale Tied Up

There was a little something for everybody.

Kennedy High fans saw the Golden Cougars’ explosive offense roll up 574 yards.

Palmdale fans saw quarterback Terry Furlow throw, juke and scramble for 385 all-purpose yards, almost single-handedly rallying his Falcons, who finished with 487 yards.

And those who plunked down $6 to watch the City Section officials, witnessed them throw 42 flags and assess 293 yards in penalties.

And everybody walked away happy. And frustrated.

After 3 hours, 25 minutes of punches, counter-punches and officials’ meetings long enough for lunches, Kennedy and Palmdale settled for a 44-44 intersectional tie on Friday night at Kennedy.

Each team had an opportunity to win in the final two minutes, but Matthew Valentino of Palmdale was short and wide on a 47-yard field-goal attempt and David Franco of Kennedy was wide left on a 37-yard try.

Not even an over-enthusiastic crew of officials, who threw four inadvertent flags, could slow the offensive onslaught. Not that they didn’t try.

Kennedy (1-0-1) was called for 23 penalties and 178 yards. Palmdale (1-0-1) had 11 penalties for 115 yards. Two other calls were offsetting, and three were declined.

Furlow completed 19 of 38 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns and also scrambled for 53 yards and three touchdowns, the last two rallying the Falcons from a 44-29 deficit.

Furlow, flushed out of the pocket all night, appeared to be sacked for an 18-yard loss at the Kennedy 25 late in the third quarter. He escaped, however, and scored on a seven-yard run.

Early in the fourth quarter, Furlow bootlegged a nine-yard touchdown run, then scored the two-point conversion on another bootleg for the 44-44 tie.

Jamil Smith caught six Furlow passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Jerome Williams of Kennedy rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns in 19 carries.

James Norris, the Golden Cougars’ All-City receiver, caught eight passes for 189 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown from Adam Geery in the third quarter. He also rushed for 76 yards in nine carries, including a 67-yard scoring run.

Efren Lopez also scored for Kennedy, darting 62 yards on a draw play, one of three draws that resulted in Golden Cougar scores.

Geery completed 14 of 22 passes for 250 yards.