In its season opener, the Palo Alto High School football team (0-2, 0-0) dropped its first home game, 48-7, to the Half Moon Bay High School Cougars (2-0, 0-0).

The Cougars came out strong, putting up 27 points in the first quarter. The Vikings were able to stop a two-point conversion attempt by the Cougars, but were unable to complete a pass in the first quarter.

Another touchdown in the second quarter brought Half Moon Bay up to a 34-0 cushion at the half.

Paly went scoreless in the first three quarters until finally connecting on a touchdown from Chryst to sophomore tight end Louis Passarello.

The Cougars piled up seven touchdowns total to complete the win.

According to Chryst, the team needs to reset in order to be successful during future games.

“The team as a whole last night didn’t execute at all and we lost our discipline,” Chryst said. “We need to pull together and execute to get through the next stretch of games.”

Senior tight-end Bryant Jefferson said the team failed to stick to its game plan.

“We didn’t do our assignments and we didn’t tackle well,” Jefferson said. “We just need to come together as a team and learn from our mistakes.”

The Vikings look to snap their two-game losing streak, heading into a long stretch of games on the road, with only one game at home this month.

Paly will head into a tough string of games including West Catholic League opponent, Archbishop Mitty High School (1-1, 0-0).

The Vikings will face the Mitty Monarchs at 7 p.m. on Sep. 8 at Mitty.