The football seemed a bit too slippery Friday night as both the Palo Alto Vikings and the Saratoga Falcons dealt with multiple turnovers throughout the game. Even so, Palo Alto overcame some sloppy play and proved to be more than Saratoga could handle, as the team beat the Falcons, 28-14.

“We came in confident,” junior defensive back Antwon Chatmon said. “We came in ready. We had practiced for this team the whole week and came in hoping for the best, but ready for the worst,”

The Viking offense, however, had a shaky start. During the first three drives of the game, the Vikings netted a mere 7 rushing yards in addition to just 12 passing yards. Senior quarterback Will Brandin was sacked on consecutive drives as Saratoga regained possession after the Paly offense proved to be ineffective. Brandin would eventually be sacked a total of four times for a loss of 18 yards. The Vikings showed ball control issues for the second straight week with four fumbles.

“Our defense played well, but our offense was struggling at the start,” junior wide receiver Joc Pederson said.

With the Vikings on defense, Saratoga began a series of extended drives. Paly’s inability to stop the Falcon offense continued until senior defensive back Will Holder intercepted a pass, and ran it back 86 yards for a touchdown.

“I think it was great,” senior wide receiver Ariel Arsac-Ellison said. “It was a great interception and a great run back, and it really got the team fired up.”

Holder’s touchdown was a momentum changer for the Vikings. While their running game still struggled, their passing game began to shine. Brandin threw for 238 yards on nine completions, while also tossing two touchdowns. He connected with sophomore wide receiver Maurice Williams for a 63-yard touchdown, and then again in the fourth quarter with Pederson for a 37-yard touchdown. Brandin also rushed for 6 yards.

“Brandin played well,” Williams said, “He ended up getting hit a lot of the time, but he still completed passes, and did what he needed to do.”

Brandin played the entire game with a notable limp, but this didn’t seem to affect his play. His coaches are secure that his injury won’t be a problem in the future.

“He’s [Brandin] got a quad bruise,” head coach Earl Hansen said. “He’ll be fine.”

The Falcons maintained a strong defensive presence in the running game. Paly’s senior running back Sam Tompkins-Jenkins was held to just 49 yards on over 16 carries, with one touchdown. Tompkins-Jenkins, combined with senior fullback Terry Beasley and Brandin, netted the Viking offense a total of 68 rushing yards.

“He’s [Thompkin-Jenkins] a good running back,” Arsac-Ellison said. “He’s got a lot of skill. It’s just the one big run that he was able to make, we got a penalty on.”

The Viking defense played like an iron wall during the first half. The defense completely shut down the Falcons’ passing play, restricting Saratoga to one catch of 6 yards out of nine attempted passes. In the second half, however, the level of play decreased. The secondary allowed two touchdowns, one off of a 10-yard run and the other off of a 26-yard run, and enabled the Saratoga quarterback to complete four of his seven passes. These two touchdowns, combined with an erred Viking punt that lead to a safety, comprised the Falcons’ 14 total points.

With about nine minutes to go in the game, the Vikings pulled out the starters. Sophomore T.J. Braff replaced Brandin at quarterback. He threw for 4 yards and one completion.

Despite the 14 point victory, Hansen was displeased with the overall performance of the team.

“We played poorly. We were inconsistent. We got better at the offensive line and did what we had to do,” Hansen said. “We’re playing better teams from here on out. We need to play better.”

The Vikings agreed with Hansen’s displeasure, but still remain optimistic about their future games.

“We’re happy for the win but we’re not satisfied,” Arsac-Ellison said. “We’ll practice hard, we’ll get better, and we’ll fix these problems. We made some mistakes, but we’ll learn from them and improve.”

The Vikings will battle with Wilcox in their homecoming game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Paly.