Halfway through Friday night’s home opener, the Palo Alto Vikings looked nothing like the team that knocked off Los Gatos last week. Twenty-four minutes later, however, the Vikings reclaimed the momentum as they coasted to a 42-14 victory over the Chargers.

In the first half, both teams ran all over the other’s defense and it appeared like the team with the ball last would win. The 14-14 score at halftime stunned many of the Viking faithful who waited nearly a month to see the first home game, but Wilcox never had a chance in the second half. Twenty-eight unanswered Viking points turned a nail biter into a laugher.

The Vikings (4-1, 2-0) entered with momentum after their first win against Los Gatos since 1995, but after such an emotional win last week, the Chargers (2-3, 1-1) hoped to bring the Vikings back down to earth.

Only a minute into the game, senior running back Will Frazier began his historic night with a 44-yard scamper through the middle for a touchdown.

The Chargers, using the option offense, marched down the field effortlessly on a nine play, 84 yard drive culminating in a 6-yard score on 4th and goal by running back Justice Patterson, who dragged several Viking defenders into the end zone.

A Charger fumble late in the 1st quarter left the Vikings excellent field position, but a low snap prevented a possible 25-yard field goal. The Chargers regained possession, but on 4th and 20, senior Buddy Benaderet broke through to block the punt giving the Vikings 1st and goal on the 10-yard line. Frazier appeared to score on 1st down, but holding was called. That penalty only added to Frazier’s total yards as he scored from 16 yards out on the ensuing play.

Once again, the Vikings were unable to maintain any momentum as the ensuing kickoff was returned 58 yards by Patterson who broke at least 3 tackles during the run back. The Chargers capitalized on the Vikings’ inability to cover the option and scored on a four-yard run from Patterson. The Vikings tried the two-minute drill at the end of the half, but junior kicker Tyger Pederson’s 38-yard field goal sailed wide left.

Both teams relied heavily on the run, but the Chargers took it to an extreme. They ran for 124 yards in the half and threw only once. The one completion was for a 6-yard loss. The Vikings ran for 110 yards in the half, and senior quarterback Nick Goodspeed was 8-14 for 85 yards in the air, though Goodspeed would not attempt another pass in the second half.

Just as in the Los Gatos game last week, the Vikings came out of the locker room a different team.

"The whole line in the first half had miscommunications, but we went after them in the second half, senior lineman Fred Koloto said.

The last thing the Vikings wanted to see was Patterson returning the kickoff and sure enough, he scampered 56 yards to the Viking 38-yard line. The Vikings needed a defensive stop desperately and they were able to stop Patterson short of the 1st down on 4th and two. Three plays later, Frazier made a cut to right, and got blocks from senior lineman Uly Morales and junior fullback Sione Mataele, and was gone. 63 yards later, Frazier entered the end zone for the third time in as many quarters.

Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Charger quarterback Stephen Thompson couldn’t handle the snap and the Vikings recovered the fumble. Paly quickly turned the turnover into seven points when Goodspeed scored on a 1-yard keeper.