With the score 14-13 in favor of the Monterey Toreadors, Paly football coach Earl Hansen had to make a decision with 1:26 to go in the first game of the CCS football playoffs Friday: Tie the game with an extra point kick, and most likely go into overtime, or go for the win with a two point conversion.

Hansen called timeout, and put his kicking team in the game.

But instead of lining up for the kick, Paly quarterback Nathan Ford went behind the center and hiked the ball. He play faked a run, rolled out to his right, and found senior Matt Wismann running into the right of the end zone. Ford put up a pass right into the hands of his wide receiver, and the conversion was good. Paly had the points needed to secure a 15-14 victory and move on to the second round of the playoffs.

"Truthfully, I didn’t think we could beat them in overtime," Hansen said of his decision to go for the two point conversion.

The Monterey High School Toreadors’ last playoff appearance was in 1999 in division two. They lost in the first round against Leland in a high scoring game, 49-28. Their first game in the playoffs since then was on Friday, and once again their hopes were ended in the first round.

The game started out promising for the Vikings when senior John Ginanni ran back a kick to midfield. Paly couldn’t get a first down on the couple of plays, and turned over the ball on an incomplete fourth down play from the Monterey 38-yard line.

As the Toreador offense got its first chance, Paly had one thought in its mind — stop the run. Toreador running back Markus Mcfolling had a combined 1361 yards in the regular season, and was a major threat in the game. "We need to contain their run," Hansen said.

The Toreador offense brought the ball all the way to Paly’s 13- yard line, but on fourth down, they fumbled and the ball was scooped up by junior linebacker Roger Villanueva with 7:51 left in the first quarter.

After the turnover, the ball would switch hands six more times. With 56.3 seconds to go in the half, the Toreadors were driving from the Viking 26-yard line. After an incomplete pass by Monterey senior quarterback Austin Elmore, the quarterback went back to pass on second down. He threw the ball over the middle, and from the safety position, Ford dove in front of the intended receiver and caught the ball for an interception.

Going into half time with the score 0-0, it was evident that the game would be a close finish.

Monterey almost turned the ball over on a fumble on the opening kickoff. Anyone close jumped for the ball, but luckily for the Toreadors, they picked it up on the bottom of the pile. They put together a nine- play drive which consisted of nine straight runs, and ended with the first points of the game — a 34-yard touchdown run from Mcfolling. An extra point kick was put through he uprights to make the game 7-0 for the Toreadors.

The Vikings needed to answer back, and that’s precisely what they did. Ford put together a drive starting at his own 32-yard line, consisting of two 15-yard penalties for pass interference, and a 25-yard pass to Wismann. The drive ended on a five- yard pass to senior tight end and defensive back Teddy Way on fourth down. An extra point left the score tied 7-7 nearing the end of the third quarter.

Monterey started their next drive from their own 31-yard line. On the first play, they ran quarter back option, a play which had been used many times already in the game, and got them three yards this time. On second down, Elmore completed a 17-yard pass to senior receiver Derek Lopez for a first down. The next play, another quarterback run was called, and Elmore took the ball through the middle of the field, all the way for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point was good and put the game at 14-7 in Monterey’s favor.

The Vikings got the ball back and drove to the Toreador 22-yard line, but were two yards short on a fourth down pass to Ginanni with only 10:25 left in the game. Monterey got the ball back, and were stopped two yards behind the line on two consecutive running plays. A sack on third down forced the Toreadors to punt. The punt only got to the 31-yard line, and gave the Viking offense a good shot to tie the game. They drove down to the 11-yard line, but for the first time of the day, Ford was picked-off. Monterey senior defensive back Timmy Dunn returned the interception to the Toreador 47-yard line. Monterey went three and out after a holding penalty on second down.

The Vikings regained possession on their own 13-yard line with four and a half minutes left on the clock. On first down, a throw was blocked away by senior Toreador defender Jearu Tamiano. On second down, Ford connected with junior receiver Buddy Teevens for 18 yards. The Vikings drove down to the 36- yard line, and on second down from there, Ford was sacked for a loss of 7 yards. On the next play, he tossed the ball for Wismann over the middle who bobbled it, pulled it in, and ran it the rest of the 44- yards to the end zone.

The team went for the two point conversion. Although the Vikings were up 15-14, the game wasn’t over yet. The Toreadors got the ball back on their own 25-yard line with 1:21 remaining in the game. A run and two passes put them on their own 46-yard line with 50.7 seconds left in the game. On first down he threw a short out pattern to the wrong person. Way jumped the pass, intercepted it, and ran it back to the Toreador 10-yard line, where Ford would take two knees, and end the game. "The only interceptions I ever get are on that same exact pass," Way said.

As Paly celebrated its huge come-from-behind-victory, the Toreadors went off of the field as a team with their heads held high. Elmore yelled for the players who would be returning to the team next year to get in the front of the pack. In the back were the seniors who would pass on their positions as Toreadors to the juniors and sophomores.

Paly will play Westmont Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Milpitas.