Westchester Snaps To First and Wins

On a night when a fog rolled in off the ocean, both Pacific Palisades and Westchester High school football teams appeared to play in a haze.

It was Westchester who revived itself in time to hold off a late charge by Palisades in the fourth quarter to defeat the host Dolphins, 12-0, before 2,000 people at the Stadium By the Sea.

For Palisades, the confusion began before the game started, when L.A. City Section officials notified its coaching staff to hold out one of the team’s star players, running back Larry Williams, until they could look into allegations made by another high school, that Williams was ineligible to compete for the Dolphins.

“They’ve have been trying to get that kid ineligible for weeks,” Palisades Coach Ron Price said. “They’ve questioned his residency, his parents marital status . . . they will asking for a DNA test next.”

Despite the loss of Williams, who transferred from a high school in Texas several weeks ago, Palisades (5-1, 2-1, ranked No. 3 in the Times City Section football poll ) seemed to have the emotional edge at the start of the game, but its drives were stalled by numerous penalties. Both teams combined for 17 penalties for a total loss of 195 yards.

With three minutes to play the Dolphins also began to awaken and moved the ball to Westchester’s 14. But on fourth down and one, Comet quarterback Carlos Flores was stopped on a sneak short of the first down.

“I wish I could have that call again,” Price said. “We were getting four and five yards on that play. We just didn’t get it that time.”

Two plays later, Westchester running back Charles Drake took the ball off tackle, made a single cut and ran 85 yards for a touchdown.

“I sensed that they were down after we stopped them,” said Drake, who ran for 192 yards in 11 carries on the night. “I got some great cut blocks and I just put that last nail in the coffin.”

The first nail was pounded in by receiver James Thompson, who caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Comet quarterback Jay John Morris in the second quarter. The score was set up by a 48-yard run by Drake.

Westchester (6-0, 3-0, ranked No.1 in the Times poll) considered the game the championship the Coastal Conference championship.

“This was big for us,” Drake said. “They were tough but I knew we would come around sooner or later.”