Throughout the year, the Palo Alto football Vikings have been the underdog. Even when conventional wisdom said the Vikings would triumph, few outside the community predicted the Vikings’ success. Now the Vikings must play the underdog role once more; this time in the biggest game of them all, the state title.

The Vikings learned Sunday afternoon that they will play Lutheran High School, often refered to as Orange Lutheran, for the Division II state finals on Saturday, Dec. 16.

Paly wasn’t supposed to beat Los Gatos or Palma and certainly not Oak Grove in the Central Coast Section Open Division finals especially after a regular season loss to the same Eagles. Just as the basketball team last year, the football Vikings just kept winning and now they find themselves one victory away from a state championship.

"We did everything we could to get to this point and now it’s in our hands," senior quarterback Nick Goodspeed said. "It’s our last game no matter what, so we are going to leave everything on the field."

The finals match up bears a striking similarity to the basketball title game this past March. Its the public school with talent, but no collegiate superstars against a Southern California private school powerhouse stocked with Division-I scholarship players.

"I talk with [varsity basketball head] Coach [Peter] Diepenbrock all the time," head coach Earl Hansen said. "But our guys don’t need any reassurance that they can win this game."

The Lutheran Lancers (13-1) from Orange, California are ranked #2 in the state and #12 in the country according to Maxpreps.com and won the Southern Section Pac-5 Division 30-20 over Edison High School (11-3), ranked #3 in the state, Saturday night. Lutheran is often refered to as Orange Lutheran to distinguish itself from the other 100 plus Lutheran High Schools in the country. Lutheran’s only loss came in double-overtime to Servite High School. The Lancers are led by USC-bound senior quarterback Aaron Corp. Corp leads the team in both passing and rushing and has completed an astonishing 71% of his passes. Corp’s favorite receiver, Austin Pettis, is committed to Boise State.

"They are pretty good," Hansen said. "But they aren’t unbeatable."

The Vikings (12-1) earned their bid by winning their final 10 games against a tougher schedule. Paly had its scares, but managed to take the Open Division CCS crown, its first section title since 1995. In the playoffs, the Vikings won their three games by a combined seven points, capping it off by avenging their only loss of the year with the victory over Oak Grove.

The Vikings have not played since their thrilling 23-21 victory in the CCS finals on Dec. 1. The Vikings practiced all week, not knowing if they would play again. On Sunday, head coach Earl Hansen got the call letting him know that his team would play for the title.

"I got the call around 1:30 p.m.," Hansen said. "I don’t think we’ll ever know how close it [the decision] was."

For once, the Vikings were favored to get the bid, but Novato High School was right on their heels. Novato (12-1) won the Northern Coast Section 2A Division over Miramonte, 48-3. The three points allowed by the Hornets were the first since Oct. 7. The nine shutouts and the seven straight before Saturday are both one short of the state record. The Hornets main concern was their weak schedule. According to Maxpreps.com the average state ranking for the Vikings’ opponents was 294th and for the Hornets, it was 464th.

The Hornets clearly had the overhwleming edge when it came to margin of victory, averaging almost 40 points, but the selection process does not include margin of victory. Otherwise, the Vikings would likely stay home.

Despite outscoring their opponents 548-45 during the season, the Hornets needed help from Foothill High School in Pleasanton. The Hornets only loss came to Foothill and if the Falcons could win their section, the Hornets would look better having their only loss coming to a section champ. Only one problem; the Falcons faced De La Salle in the section finals. The De La Salle Spartans are the top team in the state and have lost only 5 games since 1991, including a record 151 straight from 1991-2004. Needless to say, the Falcons stood little chance, losing 33-7, hurting the Hornets’ chances at the title bid.

The Vikings now know that they have an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and whether they come out on top or not next Saturday, they are proud to just be given the chance to play for the title.

"We know we are just as good as any team we play," Goodspeed said. "We’re real confident on both sides of the ball."

Paly will also receive a bonus when senior Trenton Hart returns to the team for the championship. Hart, who plays both wide receiver and cornerback, fractured his collarbone on Nov. 3 in the third quarter of a game against Milpitas. Hart’s injury was originally thought to be season ending, but the Vikings had not planned on playing two weeks after the CCS finals.

The Vikings plan to fly down to Los Angeles on Friday, get a good night’s sleep and then it’s gametime. The Vikings will be staying at the Marriott Hotel in Long Beach, where many Paly fans have already begun booking. The Vikings play at 3 p.m. at the Home Depot Center in Carson, the same stadium where Lutheran has played their last two games. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Bay Area.

The nerve-racking, week-long wait is over. The hotel rooms can be finalized, the road trips can be planned and the anticipation will only build; the Vikings will get their encore.