The Palisades Dolphins finally found the win column Thursday night.
The team’s season-defining victory over the Brentwood Eagles included four overtimes, 106 combined points and one last, desperate end zone heave.
The game ended after midnight when Palisades senior Malachi Ross intercepted Brentwood’s fourth-and-goal pass, setting off a celebration after a back-and-forth contest that saw six lead changes before the end of regulation.
Here’s a quick recap of the action:
Palisades opened the scoring with a short field goal midway through the first quarter, but Brentwood quarterback Kruz Jackson answered with a touchdown to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead.
Freshman running back Jayden Oliver put Palisades back in front with a short-yardage touchdown run. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Jackson broke loose for an approximately 80-yard return touchdown. Robert Sullivan added the two-point conversion, giving Brentwood a 14-10 advantage at the end of a penalty-filled first quarter.
Palisades quarterback Robert Holohan III went to work through the air in the second quarter. Holohan connected with Ross for a long touchdown that restored a 17-14 Dolphins lead.
Brentwood later intercepted Holohan, but Palisades linebacker Chean Flowers recovered an Eagles fumble at the Dolphins’ 15-yard line to give the ball back to the home team. Brentwood eventually tied the game with a field goal with 1:43 remaining in the half.
Holohan and Ross struck again before the break. Their approximately 40-yard touchdown connection and the ensuing extra point gave Palisades a 24-17 halftime lead.
Brentwood quarterback JJ Lublin tied the game in the third quarter with an approximately 50-yard keeper, bouncing through contact near midfield and continuing into the end zone.
Holohan answered with another long touchdown pass, this time finding Jesse Wolfson for approximately 40 yards. After the extra point gave Palisades a 31-24 lead, the Dolphins borrowed a page from Brentwood’s aggressive special-teams approach. Michael Brown recovered Palisades’ onside kick with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Brentwood stayed within striking distance and tied the game at 31 on a short fourth-quarter touchdown reception by Enzo Longhi and the ensuing extra point.
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Palisades then mounted a potential game-winning drive. Holohan converted one fourth down with a quarterback keeper, but the Dolphins later faced fourth-and-1 at the Brentwood 8-yard line with 35 seconds remaining. After unsuccessfully attempting to draw the Eagles offsides, Palisades tried a field goal. The kick missed with approximately 30 seconds left, sending the game to overtime tied 31-31.
Brentwood scored first in overtime on a short Lublin touchdown run and added the extra point. LJ Stephens responded for Palisades, ripping off runs of approximately 15 and five yards before powering into the end zone. The extra point tied the game at 38.
In the second overtime, Holohan converted another critical fourth down with a three-yard keeper. He then faked a run and found Michael Peters in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Palisades missed the extra point, leaving Brentwood an opportunity to win after Jackson answered with a touchdown.
The Dolphins’ special teams kept the game alive by blocking Brentwood’s extra-point attempt, sending the teams to a third overtime tied at 44.
Brentwood scored again on a touchdown pass to Dean Pretlow, but Palisades intercepted the Eagles’ two-point attempt. Stephens then scored on an approximately three-yard run for the Dolphins. Palisades also failed on its two-point try, leaving the score tied at 50.
Stephens delivered again in the fourth overtime, pounding his way into the end zone from approximately five yards out for his third touchdown of the overtime periods. Another unsuccessful two-point attempt left Palisades ahead 56-50 and gave Brentwood one final possession.
A late 5-yard penalty complicated the Eagles’ drive. Facing fourth-and-goal from the 6, Brentwood threw into the end zone, where Ross stepped in front of the pass for the game-clinching interception.
Holohan finished with four touchdown passes – two to Ross and one each to Wolfson and Peters – while repeatedly extending drives with his legs. Stephens scored three overtime touchdowns, and Ross delivered at both ends of the field with two touchdown receptions and the interception that ended the game.
Jackson led Brentwood with three touchdowns, including his long kickoff return, while Lublin scored twice on the ground.
The non-league victory moves Palisades to 1-3 overall and leaves the Dolphins 0-0 in the Western League.
Palisades next travels to San Pedro for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday, Sept. 18.
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Photo: Mark Dawson @3D_athletics_media