Kory Hall breaks away late, helps Cleveland beat Palisades to stay undefeated

After being contained for most of the game, Kory Hall drew single coverage down the sideline and caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Emiliano Lopez midway through the fourth quarter and Cleveland never looked back.

In an early season matchup between two teams vying to make the City Section Open Division playoffs, the Cavaliers stayed on track with a 34-14 nonleague victory over Palisades in a battle of unbeatens Friday night in Reseda.

Cleveland (4-0) improved to 6-8 all time against Palisades and won for the second time in the teams’ five meetings over the last six seasons. Palisades won its first 11 games before losing to San Pedro in the Open Division semifinals last fall.

The Dolphins (3-1) suffered just their third loss in 20 games.

Though both teams began the night undefeated, the combined record of their opponents was 3-19, so neither had faced a serious test. For Cleveland, the needle is still pointed up.

Cleveland quarterback Emiliano Lopez tries to escape the grasp of Palisades defensive end Immanuel Robinson on Friday night.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Donovan Powell opened the scoring with a 13-yard run for the Cavaliers, who avenged a 39-0 shutout at Palisades last fall. Hall set up the score with a 30-yard interception return to the Dolphins’ 45-yard line.

Mikael King-Haagen answered with a 32-yard touchdown reception from Roman La Scala early in the second quarter, but Daniel Guzman’s one-yard scoring run put Cleveland back on top 14-7. Palisades had a first down at the Cavaliers’ six-yard line late in the first half, but quarterback Zachary Lifton was sacked and time ran out.

King-Haagen caught a six-yard touchdown pass from La Scala to tie it 14-14 early in the third quarter, but Andrew Shackelford caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Lopez five minutes later to put the Cavaliers ahead to stay.

Five miles away, Granada Hills was hosting Eagle Rock in the City’s other big game with Open Division playoff implications, but Cleveland’s defense proved to be the big difference against Palisades, recovering two fumbles and intercepting three passes.

Palisades tailback Chris Washington runs for a first down in the first quarter against Cleveland.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Hall’s touchdown made it 27-14 with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter, and Powell tacked on a six-yard touchdown run to produce the final margin. Hall entered the game as one of the City’s best receivers, having caught six passes for 231 yards and four scores the week before in a 35-7 victory at Canoga Park.

Cleveland was 6-3 last year and lost to Dorsey 34-28 in the quarterfinals of the City Division I playoffs. Palisades was 11-1 last year and lost to San Pedro 33-17 in Open Division quarterfinals.