The defining moment of a championship game does not usually come in the first five minutes. On Friday, it was a four-down defensive stop inside the Viking 1-yard line that epitomized the Palo Alto football Vikings’ 23-21 win over Oak Grove in the Open Division of the Central Coast Section finals.

With a possible bid to the state finals on the line, the Viking defense made a goal-line stand early in the 1st quarter that turned the momentum and allowed them to upset the top seeded Eagles and avenged a mid-September regular-season loss.

It’s been 10 weeks since three early Viking turnovers gave the Eagles 21 points in a 35-14 loss. However, for all but five minutes the Vikings played even with the mighty Eagles, though they could never recover from the early deficit. Paly knows it let an opportunity go by, but the loss may have been more beneficial than detrimental.

"We now understand the big game attitude," assistant coach Steve Foug said before the game. "We need to play with a loose confidence."

The Eagles (11-1-1) have won 31 games over the last three years and reached the CCS finals all three years. They are led by junior running back Nevin Gardiner who has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. Gardiner alone provides almost 200 all-purpose yards per game. In addition to a punishing ground attack that averages over 230 yards a game, the Eagles have a potent air attack led by senior quarterback Kevin Nye who has completed nearly 60% of his passes and has thrown for 15 touchdowns.

The Vikings (12-1) entered the finals on the heels of two thrilling and emotional victories. In the quarterfinals, the Vikings came back from 14 points down and still needed an Aragon missed field goal in the final minute to win, 23-21. Last Friday, in what has to be one of the greatest CCS games in recent memory, the Four overtime periods later, the Vikings’ junior fullback Sione Mataele scored his fifth touchdown of the game to give his team the 41-38 win.