Palo Alto fumbled away an early touchdown, but amassed 49 straight points by overpowering, outrunning, and otherwise demolishing the Santa Clara Bruins defense in their SCVAL De Anza Division game Saturday afternoon.

Before scoring 49 unanswered points, Palo Alto (6-2, 4-1 league) fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and, eight seconds later, watched a perfectly thrown 21-yard touchdown pass put the Bruins up 7-0. With Santa Clara (0-8, 0-4 league) averaging a weak 7.7 points a game, those first 15 seconds of the game seemed to send a message the Bruins meant business.

Paly quickly responded with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that evened up the score, 7-7. Junior quarterback Will Brandin and the Paly offense quickly made it evident that the Bruins were outmatched. 260-pound senior fullback Sione Mataele bulldozed his way through 49-yards of Santa Clara territory, finishing with an 11-yard touchdown run. Mataele would rush nine times for 72 yards in only two quarters of action as head coach Earl Hansen took the opportunity to give four other running backs a chance to play.

Santa Clara started their next drive on the 25-yard line, and it was quickly apparent that Paly was superior in every facet of the game. Three downs later, the Santa Clara punter mishandled the snap and kicked it out of the back of his own end zone for a Paly safety, giving the Vikings a 9-7 lead. Paly senior receiver Mike Scott returned the ensuing kick off 80-yards as the Bruins gave up nine points in eight seconds, bringing the score to 16-7. Scott had 128 total yards on the day as he caught four passes for 48 yards, in only two quarters of play.

After another three-and-out by Santa Clara, Palo Alto began their drive on Brandin’s 14-yard pass to Scott. Two plays later, junior running back Will Holder ripped off a 48-yard run that brought Paly into the Bruins’ side of the field. Mataele rushed for his second touchdown of the day on a 5-yard run that capped the impressive 80-yard drive. Senior kicker Tyger Pederson’s extra point was blocked, but Paly held a commanding 22-7 lead. Holder accumulated 50 yards rushing and caught one pass for 27 yards on the night. Brandin completed the first six of his passes, going six for seven with one touchdown and 71 yards.

After Santa Clara opened the second quarter with two running plays, junior cornerback Harry Woolsen gave Palo Alto the ball back on a fumble recovery at the Bruin 27-yard line. On Paly’s first play, Brandin hit an open Holder near the sideline at the line of scrimmage and watched as Holder broke a tackle and strolled into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 29-7.

With Paly up by more than three touchdowns early in the second quarter, Hansen slowly began to pull his starters from the field, giving his second and third-string players a chance to play. After three consecutive three-and-outs, two by Santa Clara and one by Paly, senior quarterback Jeff Wilson and senior running back Brandon Boyd took the field and drove the Vikings 32 yards into the red zone. Boyd finished the drive with a 5-yard run that put Paly up 36-7 heading into the half. Wilson would complete all three of his passes for 31 yards while also rushing for a two yard touchdown late in the second half. Boyd finished the game with seven rushes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Paly finished the first half with 289 yards, more than they have averaged all season for an entire game. The Vikings would continue this trend as the third, fourth, and fifth string running backs trampled the Bruins for 127 yards in the remaining two quarters, giving Paly 484 total yards on the day.

The Bruins offense began the second half by gaining their first first-down of the day against a suffocating Paly defense. Nevertheless, Paly junior defensive end Andy Maliska sacked the quarterback and then forced a fumble on successive plays to give the Vikings the ball on the Santa Clara 30-yard line. Maliska ran back the fumble recovery 30-yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back due to a holding call on the return. Even so, Boyd carried the ball three times for 30 yards in scoring his second touchdown of the day, bringing the score to 43-7.

Paly’s next possession came after another one-first-down drive by Santa Clara. Wilson completed a 15-yard pass to junior Ariel Arsac-Ellison and then senior running back Chris James and junior running back Casey Fields carried the ball 48 yards on eight carries. Wilson finished the drive with a 2-yard quarterback sneak that brought the score to 49-7. Special teams failed to score on the two-point conversion.

The rout ended with the final buzzer, finding Paly more than 40 points in front of their opponents.

Palo Alto next plays Los Altos at home on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.