It didn’t take long for the Palo Alto varsity football team to show why they are a serious contender for the Central Coast Section title.

On the second play from scrimmage, senior defensive back Maurice Williams intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 37 yards for a Viking touchdown.

"Once I caught it and saw the end zone, I knew it was over," Williams said.

From that play on, it was clear that the Carlmont Scots, who went 1-9 last year, were no match for the veteran Vikings.

The Viking onslaught continued as junior fullback Sione Mataele scored on a 9-yard run capping off a drive that started with senior defensive back Dennis Pruzan’s interception.

The second quarter was more of the same. The Viking defensive line overpowered the inexperienced Carlmont line and held the Carlmont running game to -2 yards in the first half. The Viking often had four or five players join in on a tackle. The Scots had fewer total yards in the first half, 28, than the Vikings had points, 42. The Vikings scored four times during the second quarter on two TD runs by senior halfback Will Frazier, another TD run from Mataele and a 20-yard interception return by senior defensive back Kevin Dexter.

Senior quarterback Nick Goodspeed was 7-9 for 90 yards in the first half, which was all the passing the Vikings needed. The Scots defense was no match for the Vikings’ ground attack. The speed of senior halfback Evan Warner, the brute strength of Mataele and the all-around talent of Frazier made defending the run near to impossible for the Scots.

The Vikings all-senior offensive line deserves a lot of the credit for the impressive ground game. The Viking three running backs carried the ball 34 times and not once did they lose yards and only twice were they stopped for no gain. As for Carlmont, their two starting backs were stopped for zero or less yards on half of their 18 carries.