After giving up 42 points in a 48-42 win against Branham last week, the Palo Alto Vikings showed significant improvement in a 27-13 win against Aragon, Saturday.
The Vikings’ defense allowed only 13 points and 272 yards to pave the way for a 27-13 win which advances No. 4 Palo Alto (9-2) to its first section championship game since 1995.

"Finally, the heart of our team, our defensive line, did the job for
us," Paly head coach Earl Hansen said. "We’ve had some impressive games
defensively this season, but today they played their hearts out." The Paly senior linemen include James McCluskey, Shane Parsons, Courtney Ewing, Jay Hoffman, Rohan Kshirsagar, and Nathan Taber.

The condition of junior defensive-linebacker Nabil Balamane was uncertain until the start of play. In the end, the starter had to sit out due to illness. Balamane’s teammates, however, made up for his absence, forcing several sacks and turnovers, including two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

In the third quarter, senior defensive end Joeseph Ashufta made Paly’s first fumble recovery, giving the Vikings the ball on Aragon’s 34. Six plays later, senior Tydus Kiger ran seven yards for a 20-6 Paly lead.

Aragon struck back quickly with their own scoring drive that
lasted less than two minutes.

However, on theDons’ next offensive drive Ashufta intercepted a pass tipped by
teammate Alex Gibson, giving the Vikings the chance to open the lead. Paly junior quarterback Nathan Ford capped off a nine play scoring drive, hitting junior wide receiver Matt Wismann on a nine-yard scoring toss for a 27-13 advantage
with 7:46 left to play in the game.

Paly’s defense held Aragon to just 36 yards during the Dons’ final three possessions, stopping one drive at the Vikings’ 9 yard line on a fumble recovery by
Taber, who arguably had his best performance of the season.

The game proved that emotion can be a deciding factor in playoffs. "This was the game to win and we came to win,” Ford said. “We wanted this game more than they did, and we won it with heart."

After attending the Aragon v. Archbishop Mitty game last Saturday during which the Dons dominated with the running game of sophomore Dominic Williams, the Vikings came into the semifinal game fully expectant of their opponent’s game plan. Paly’s defense all but stopped the Dons, who rushed for only 125 yards and passed for 147. Williams, who rushed for over 200 yards last week in the 43-36 double-overtime victory over Mitty, was limited to 104 yards on 18 carries and only one touchdown.

"We stopped them when we had to," Hansen said.

In addition to the defense, Paly saw impressive performances on offense. Senior running back Tydus Kiger had 146 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns. Ford completed seven of 16 passes for 110 yards, and Wismann caught three passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

Palo Alto will play No. 3 San Mateo (10-2) for the CCS title on Friday at 7 pm at Burlingame High School.