The last time the Vikings beat the Los Gatos Wildcats in football, O.J. Simpson was in court, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil was committed by a white man in Oklahoma, and the 49ers were Superbowl champions.

On Friday, the Palo Alto varsity boys did what no Viking team could do for over a decade with a 35-7 rout of the Wildcats.

Calling this game monumental would be an understatement. Hyped as one of the biggest games of the year, the results have been entirely one-sided with the Wildcats winning the last 11 meetings by an average of 27 points per game. Since 1995, the Vikings haven’t just lost; they have yet to come within 10 points.

Last year, the Vikings were blown out 63-28 in the regular season and lost 27-6 in the Central Coast Section Medium Schools Division championship. The Wildcats had the Vikings’ number and they knew.

"We lost to them twice last year and I had to watch both," senior quarterback Nick Goodspeed said. "Now we beat them on their turf."

The Vikings (3-1, 2-0 league) had their early season momentum stalled last Friday by CCS powerhouse Oak Grove (3-0-1) in a 35-14 loss where five Viking turnovers prevented any chance of an undefeated season. The first three Viking possessions ended on an interception, a blocked punt and a fumble respectively and each turnover led to an Eagle touchdown. From the second quarter on, the Vikings played the Eagles tough but could not recover from the first quarter meltdown.

"We prepared well because none of us wanted to feel like we did last week," senior lineman Fred Koloto said.

The Vikings allowed over 200 yards rushing last week to Oak Grove and on Friday they went up against all-league senior running back Will Kapp.

"If we don’t stop Kapp, they [Los Gatos] won’t need anybody else," head coach Earl Hansen said before the game.

In the first quarter, the Vikings’ defense couldn’t stop Kapp and Wildcat fullback Nick Kalpin. The Wildcats ran the ball 11 times for 75 yards in the first quarter, never reaching a third down.

The only first quarter pass from junior quarterback Andrew Gomez was intercepted by senior defensive back Dennis Pruzan. The pick led to a 23-yard field goal attempt from junior kicker Tyger Pederson which sailed wide left.

The Wildcats struck first blood with a 12-yard touchdown run from Kalpin who actually fumbled the ball during his run but managed to catch the ball in mid-air and continue into the end zone. That, however, would be the last time that Kalpin touched the ball as he left the game with an apparent shoulder injury.

"When [Kalpin] came out, that was a break for us because we only had to worry about Kapp," Koloto said.