They said Paly could never defend their CCS title with a rookie junior quarterback after losing 15 seniors. They said that lightning never strikes twice in the same spot. But at Foothill College in the finals Friday, it did.

The season could not have ended better for the Paly Vikings’ football team, who beat the Menlo-Atherton Bears, 14-7, in dramatic fashion.

“Everybody counted us out. We had to give 100% tonight,” junior linebacker Malcolm Bailey said. “But we gave 150%”.

With the score tied and the game’s final 20 seconds ticking away, the Vikings’ determined offense took a gamble. After rushing the team to the line, junior quarterback Will Brandin received the snap and lofted a ball towards senior wide receiver Mike Scott in the corner of the end zone.

“It was a risky throw,” Brandin said. “But it was our only option so late in the game. I had confidence in Mike.”

Scott leaped high above two Menlo-Atherton defenders to catch the ball and then managed to keep his foot inbounds on the way down.

By Central Coast Section rules the Vikings and the Bears would have been crowned co-champions had time expired with the score tied had the pass been incomplete.

“You’ve got to go for the win in that situation,” said assistant coach Steve Foug.

The last play was not the only risky play of the night. Just moments earlier, the Vikings pushed their luck on a crucial Fourth-and-13, an admitted long-shot by any football fan. With just over a minute left in the game and the Vikings season, Brandin spotted the double coverage on Mike Scott and instead found senior wide receiver Jordan Jefferson over the middle in a game-saving effort.

“I told coach to open me up in the offense because they were going to double team him the whole day,” Jefferson said.

Jefferson had a season best 40 yards on 5 catches and intercepted the Menlo-Atherton quarterback in the end-zone, ending a game-changing threat at the conclusion of the second half.

And if the odds were not against the Vikings enough, their senior star running back Sione Mataele decided to sit the game out at the last minute. Mataele had three cousins on the Menlo-Atherton sideline.

The first half consisted of little “action”, but was surely noteworthy, as the Vikings twice stopped a powerful Menlo-Atherton offense that averages over 35 points a game. Paly has only given up seven points in its last four games.

Two-way player Will Holder was solely responsible for the first defensive stop. After a long pass over the middle to Menlo-Atherton tight end Matt Mosher, it looked as if the Bears would get a quick seven on their first possession. Holder however, had other plans. An electrifying sack brought energy to the Paly sideline and set the Bears back 5 yards. When the Bears attempted a field goal on the next play, Holder was there again, this time blocking the kick and allowing an idle Paly defender to return the ball to about mid-field.

“That’s the hardest I’ve seen the seniors play,” said an ecstatic Holder.

The second Viking defensive stand came in the closing seconds of the second half after Brandin had been intercepted and the Bears had worked their way well into Viking territory, mostly by the efforts of Menlo-Atherton running back Will Latu. After an Anderson sack, Jefferson’s diving end zone interception turned the table on a probable scoring affair.

The Vikings also gave the Bears a scare in the first half. While senior running back Brandon Boyd brought the Vikings inside the Bears 10 yard-line, no running back could punch it into the end zone for three straight plays. Brandin’s fourth-down, short pass to Boyd out of the backfield fell incomplete and ended the Vikings first drive.

The Bears got the ball to begin the second half, but found no success and were forced to punt, three-and-out.

When Brandin was picked for a second time, the Vikings defense held off the Bears until Anderson recovered a Will Latu fumble.

After three short passes to Jefferson and a 12-yard pass to Scott, the Vikings were again deep in Bear territory.

“They let the pass rush down during the stretch,” Foug said.

When the Vikings were stuck at fourth-and-one inside the 5 yard-line, Brandin snuck up the middle for two yards and a first down. Brandin then handed the ball to senior running back James McCollough who was tackled into the end zone, giving Paly a 7-0 lead.

The Bear’s kick return man nearly tied the game before the Vikings could get their defense on the field. However a saving tackle was made around the 40 yard line, just in front of the last defender.

A long pass to Menlo-Atherton Russell Perkins put the Bears in good scoring position. When the Vikings denied Latu the end zone on first and second down, the Bears moved to the pass. Quarterback Troy McCabe hit a receiver in the back of the end zone, tying the score, 7-7.

Wide receiver Mike Martin, like Jefferson, had a breakout day in his last high school football game. After being injured for the better part of the season, Martin caught passes of 22 yards, 26 yards, and the pass late in the fourth quarter which silenced the large Menlo-Atherton crowd.

“Our line did an unbelievable job,” Holder added.

One of the keys of the night was stopping Menlo-Atherton defensive lineman Litani Moimoi who had recorded 19 sacks on the season. While the season’s early struggles could be attested to the inexperienced line, Friday night they even bought extra time for Brandin to scramble out of the pocket.

The Vikings surely redeemed themselves for the early season losses that had many doubting their abilities.

“It’s the end that matters,” Holder said.