Dolphins Seek Charter Bowl Victory

Since it was started six years ago, no nonleague game on the schedule has meant more to the football teams at and Granada Hills high schools than their annual grudge match, which has been dubbed the "Charter Bowl."

Not only is pride at stake for the City Section's two premiere charter schools, they also play for the coveted bronze Charter Bowl trophy, which the winning team is allowed to keep on campus until the next season.

This year's game takes place at 7 p.m. Friday at Granada Hills High and the Dolphins will be trying to buck the trend, since the home team has won all five previous meetings.

Not only will Palisades have to deal with a noisy crowd at John Elway Stadium (named after the former Highlanders' quarterback and NFL Hall-of-Famer), it must do so without the help of several key starters.

First-string quarterback Nathan Dodson, who injured his shoulder in Palisades' 33-15 loss to Santa Monica two weeks ago and sat out last , is not likely to play much, if at all, Coach Perry Jones confirmed Friday morning.

"It doesn't look good, so it's going to be Kevin [Acosta]," Jones said. "If Nate feels good, we may rotate him in and out but we'll be careful with him. I've had him do some individual drills on his own but other than that he didn't practice."

Running backs Justin Sinclair and Ben Ingram are still nursing injuries and are out for Friday's game. Jones knows his team will be dangerous once all of the pieces are in place, it's just a matter of when that will be.

"When we get everyone back, we'll be fine," Jones said. "Until then, it's touch and go."

Starting his very first high school game at quarterback, Acosta put forth a gutsy performance against the highly-ranked Celts in Palisades' 40-0 loss a week ago. The 5-foot-5, 150-pound junior ran the Dolphins' triple option attack as well as could be expected and earned the respect of his teammates.

If the Dolphins (0-3) are to break into the win column, they must slow down Granada Hills tailback Victor Rabago, who averaged five yards per carry and ran for two touchdowns in the Highlanders' 28-0 shutout of crosstown rival Kennedy last week. Senior quarterback Joshua Szin was a perfect eight-for-eight for 96 yards and one touchdown.

"They look good [on film] and do a lot of things with their formations," Jones said of the opposition. "That No. 42 [Rabago] can run. He had 100 yards last week. So we have our work cut out for us."

Granada Hills (2-2) is now in its third year under head coach Billy Parra. Last season the Highlanders finished 4-7 and one of their losses was a 10-0 road defeat to Palisades, which limited star running back Jacob Smith to 52 yards in 12 carries. This time, the Dolphins won't have Smith to contend with, but Rabago is not an easy assignment either. The multi-purpose back has rushed for 203 yards and has caught 15 passes for 178 yards so far this season.

"We'll see what happens," Jones said. "We're ready to explode. The offense is there, we just have to get everyone back. My main concern is getting everyone through this game healthy. We want to keep the trophy, though. No doubt."

Interestingly, both of Palisades' wins in the series have been shutouts. The frosh/soph game kicks off at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 7.

Here are the results of the first five Charter Bowls (Granada Hills leads the series 3-2):

2006 -- at Granada Hills 10, Palisades 3
2007 -- at Granada Hills 48, Palisades 10
2008 -- at Palisades 21, Granada Hills 0
2009 -- at Granada Hills 28, Palisades 21
2010 -- at Palisades 10, Granada Hills 0

Total points scored: Granada Hills 96, Palisades 65.

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