The Paly varsity football team fell short of its CCS championship game hopes, losing to Westmont High School 31-10, in the CCS semifinals, Saturday. The loss ended Paly’s season and the Ford era of Paly football.

After three years of leading the Palo Alto football team, including one trip to the CCS finals, senior Nathan Ford’s quarterback tenure came to an end Saturday. Next year Ford will continue on to college where those close to him say that he will continue to play football. "The end of the season was depressing, but my team is great and I have had a lot of fun with these guys," Ford said.

Coming into the game, assistant coach Steve Foug had high hopes. "We had a really good practice Thanksgiving morning," Foug said. The Palo Alto crowd had high hopes as well, traveling across the bay and fighting the cold and winds to watch Ford’s magic as he hoped to lead the team to its first CCS victory since 1995.

The Vikings looked like they had it in them to pull off another victory. However, turnovers and injuries set them back as Westmont began to pull away in the fourth quarter, with a late interception.

Problems began for the Vikings on Palo Alto’s opening drive. The Vikings could not seem to get ball moving, gaining only half of a yard before fourth down. A quick three and out gave the Warriors the ball on the Paly 39-yard line and quickly gave the momentum to the Warriors who just came off a close win against Mountain View the week before.

The Warriors capitalized on the good field position, driving the ball into the end zone on a 25-yard pass from junior quarterback Kevin Pham to junior receiver Ryan Kanzaki. The extra point sailed wide, making the score 6-0 Westmont with 8:44 remaining in the first quarter.

On the next drive, things went from bad to worse for the Vikings. After taking an awkward fall on the first Palo Alto running play, star running-back John Ginanni left the game with an injury to his ankle on first down. He did not return to the game. Furthermore, penalties pushed the Vikings back, leading to another punt and to cold and now angry fans in the stands.

Paly had several chances to score early on, including an interception by senior Nathan Ford which set Paly up on the Westmont 16-yard line late in the first quarter. However, two plays later, Ford tossed the ball back to Westmont defender, junior, Chantz Staden, with an interception in the end zone.

Again, Paly’s defense stepped up with an interception, this one by senior defender Kevin Briggs, on the Warrior’s next drive. A 57-yard pass up the middle from Ford to senior Teddy Way allowed Paly to find the end zone for the first and only time in the game. The extra point, which bounced off the bottom of the goal post, gave Paly the lead. And transferred the momentum back to Vikings, with 10:16 still left in the second.

Westmont was quick to come back, marching 80 yards up the field on their next drive. Senior Casey Modiri caught a 19-yard pass setting the Warriors up on the one-yard line. Senior Daniel Weller piled through the middle on the next play, working a touchdown. Weller was able to break through the Viking line again, give the Warriors the two point conversion, and setting Paly back 14-7 with 5:08 remaining in the second quarter.

As time expired in the first half, Westmont successfully kicked a 24 yard field goal making the score 17-7 at half time.

Half way through the fourth quarter, the Vikings looked like they might repeat their Monterey comeback from the week before; the Vikings won that game after a two point conversion put them ahead by one point with less than two minutes left on the clock.

Starting on their own 34-yard line, the Vikings marched the ball up to the Westmont 11, where Ford kicked a 28-yard field goal. This put Paly behind by only a touchdown with over seven minutes remaining in regulation.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, Westmont found the end zone on the next drive. The Warriors stomped 85 yards up the field where an 18-yard pass to Kanzaki landed in the end zone. The extra point made the score 24-10; it was all but over for Palo Alto’s football season.

Trying hard to stay in it, Paly fought its way back to the Westmont 25.

Ford tossed the ball right into the hands of a Westmont defender, who, in return, race up the sideline 85 yards for the touchdown, which, with the extra point, sealed the game, 31-10.

Westmont beat the Vikings by "deception," Westmont head coach Tony Santos said. The Warriors’ tricky plays, including fake punts and laterals, fooled the Vikings’ defense.

"Westmont came to play," Foug said. The Warriors played hard, bidding for the schools first football championship in its history.

Campbell’s Westmont Warriors will take on the Woodside Wildcats at 7 p.m. in Milpitas on Saturday for the CCS medium school division title.

A season cut short
Saturdays lost ends the Paly 2004 football season, but as true Paly fans know a championship title is not to far away.

This year’s freshman-sophomore and freshman teams went undefeated with an unprecedented 15-0 record, leaving much hope in the heart of Paly fans that another CCS football title is not too far in the future.

The end of the season left some team members with closing thoughts.

"We came together as a team," Ginanni said, after watching most of the Westmont game from the sidelines. "On any other day we would have won."

"I loved this team. Every day after my seventh period class I was ready and happy. I was ready to coach this team," Foug said.