The Palo Alto High School Vikings (3-4) fell to the Milpitas High School Trojans (6-1) 31-28 in Friday night’s Homecoming game at Paly’s Ray Hod Field, with the win slipping out of reach in the game’s final moments.

In the last two minutes of the game, with the Vikings behind by three, Paly drove down the field in a final attempt to score, but the series ended on an interception by Milpitas junior Duane Jones. This left Paly with little time to respond before the final whistle.

“It was good all the way up until the last drive,” senior fullback Andrew Frick said. “We had a lot of chances. We’ve been in a lot of close games and haven’t pulled out of a lot of them, so it’s disappointing. But we’ve got to move on and focus on next week now.”

Throughout the first half the Trojans ran a strong running game against Paly’s defense, while the Vikings moved the ball smoothly with the help of a few key players, including senior quarterback Keller Chryst, senior receiver Keesean Johnson and senior running back Malcolm Davis.

In the second quarter, Chryst threw a 43-yard touchdown pass, which was reeled in by Johnson to make the score 14-6 in favor of the Vikings with 9:18 left in the half. A Trojan touchdown followed, making the score 14-12 Vikings at the half.

The lead continued to change hands in the second half, culminating with the dramatic last two minutes.

Head Coach Earl Hansen took a positive spin on the loss.

“We’ll keep improving, that’s for sure,” Hansen said. “They’re a good football team, no question about it, but so are we.”

The Vikings will next take on Mountain View High School (1-6) 3:15 p.m. Friday at Mountain View High School.