The Palo Alto Vikings Varsity football team (2-0) will host the Christopher Cougars (1-1) 7 p.m. tonight at Earl Hansen Viking Stadium.
Though the Vikings are currently undefeated, both wins came against teams that haven’t provided much of a challenge, winning against Mountain View, 25-13, and then Oak Grove, who didn’t even manage to score a point against the Vikings last week.
The Cougars, however, aren’t going to go down so easily. They held an impressive 11-2 record last season, and return many from last years team. They comparably dominate the Vikings in roster size, height, and weight. For example, their quarterback, senior Jaxen Robinson stands at 6’5 225 pounds. For comparison, the Vikings’ quarterback, sophomore Justin Fung, stands at 5’10 160 lbs. Additionally, the Cougars have several lineman with simmilar height and even heavier weight than Robinson, providing a level of pressure and security that the Vikings haven’t seen yet this year.
According to Viking senior reciever and safety Jeremiah Fung, being the underdog physically isn’t reason to panic. He says many of the current Vikings have been in similar matchups before.
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Fung said. “We [returning varsity players] have played teams with big and physical players, and skill wise, we match up pretty well.”
Fung said going against such a team will help get the Vikings ready for what’s to come.
“They’re big, fast, and physical,” Fung said. “This game will help us get ready for all the teams to come. It’ll help us get to that next level as a team and get us to where we need to be going into league play.
For Fung and the rest of the seniors, a scheduling error made it so that they only have four (instead of five) home games guaranteed until their high school career is done.
“It feels bittersweet for this to be one of the last home games of my high school career,” Fung said. “It’s my first home game with Juice [Justin Fung], and I just hope to show our school what the Fung brothers can do.”
