The field goal unit of the Palo Alto Vikings had certainly not been a strength of the well-balanced team in its first nine games, but after Friday’s victory over Los Gatos, head coach Earl Hansen won’t have trouble going to senior kicker Will Holder for a last-second kick. The team accomplished what last year’s De Anza Division championship team couldn’t, capturing a 17-14 victory over the Wildcats on Holder’s 20-yard field goal to end the regular season.
What makes this win even more impressive is the fact that the Vikings lost 15 starting players from last year’s CCS Large School Division championship team. That team lost to Los Gatos by a score of 42-7 before embarking on a nine-game winning streak and eventual championship playoff run. Hopefully, this win for the Vikings will again motivate Palo Alto to another championship.
“We played like we were supposed to be playing this entire season,” Holder said. “I think that if we keep it up, we could make a deep run in the playoffs.”
The win gave Paly (4-2, 7-3) a tie for second place in the division with the Wildcats (4-2, 7-3), and the Wilcox Chargers (4-1, 5-4), who are pending their result over Saratoga (4-5, 2-3). The win also gave Palo Alto the tiebreaker over Los Gatos, clinching an automatic playoff berth in the CCS medium-division playoffs.
“Holder is a great player on defense and special teams, and he definitely proved yet again his worth to the team with that kick,” senior wide receiver Ariel Arsac-Ellison said. “When we huddled up, I could see him relaxed, and it relaxed the rest of us. I knew there was no chance he would miss that kick.”
In Hansen’s traditional run-oriented offense, senior running back Sam Tompkins-Jenkins carried the load as he rushed for 142 yards on 28 touches while also adding two touchdown runs of two and four yards. With the Wildcat defense focused on stopping the elusive Tompkins-Jenkins, senior quarterback Will Brandin used the play action pass to his advantage, throwing for 203 yards on 15-of-22 passing. This efficient air attack attested to the toughness of Brandin, who just three weeks ago suffered a slight shoulder separation in a 14-35 loss to Wilcox.
While Brandin began strongly by completing his first seven passes, the Wildcats scored first. Playing with an offensive line far larger than the Vikings’, the Wildcats set the pace by stringing together eight straight runs before scoring with four minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
Paly fumbled away its next possession, but the Viking defense stepped up to bail Brandin and the offense out. First, linebackers Jared Beeson and senior Sean Keohane broke through the Wildcat offensive line to stuff senior running back Chris La Bouff for a six-yard loss. Then, on Los Gatos’ next play, junior safety Scott Witte dove in front of an erratic pass to make a highlight reel interception catch. Paly scored on Tompkins-Jenkins’ two-yard dive promptly after a 38-yard connection from Brandin to junior wide receiver Joc Pederson.
“Our defense stepped up tonight and our linebackers stuffed the run,” Holder said. “Our line played well and that gets everything going.”
Paly’s next touchdown came late in the second quarter after a 14-play, 80-yard drive during which Brandin connected on all five of his passes before handing it off to Tompkins-Jenkins for a four-yard touchdown run. With time ticking off the clock, Los Gatos quarterback Nick Hirschman connected on three passes as the Wildcats evened the score at 14 all going into the second half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Palo Alto began a lengthy drive that consumed over five minutes of the clock. The Vikings converted four third-downs on their way to Holder’s field goal for a 17-14 lead. Three of those four third-downs came on Brandin to Holder passes as the important tight end eventually caught four passes for 45 yards.
“This was our best game by far because it was the first time we played a complete game,” Beeson said. “Offense, defense, and special teams, everyone played well. Their offense was really easy to read, they weren’t trying to trick us, they were trying to outmuscle us and it didn’t work. We played with more intensity and we wanted it more and the outcome of the game shows that.”
While Holder was the target on third downs, Brandin’s favorite target continued to be Pederson, the junior wide receiver who hauled in six passes for 107 yards. Pederson picked up where he left off in last week’s game against Mountain View as he worked the Los Gatos defense for four plays of 15 or more yards. Friday’s game brought his total to 625 yards on the season, averaging 79 yards a game.
Palo Alto almost gave the victory away, however, when the Wildcats’ kick returner Christian Cusella broke loose on a 69-yard return. Luckily for the Vikings, special teams senior standouts Kasey Fields and Paul Brown collaborated on the game-saving tackle as time expired.
In addition to crediting Paly special teams with crucial plays, Hansen also praised the work of junior linemen A.J. Castillo and Troy Boyland, senior lineman David Chatman, senior defensive ends Andy Maliska and Steven Gargiulo, and linebackers Keohane and Beeson for bruising the Los Gatos offensive line throughout the night. This constant pressure resulted in the Vikings’ best defensive performance of the season, shutting out the Wildcats in the second half.
“This win will determine our seeding for CCS,” Arsac-Ellison said. “Today was the first game that it seemed like everything was clicking. It’s important that now we have some momentum going into the playoffs.”
The CCS seeding meeting is Sunday. Palo Alto’s playoffs begin next Friday at 7 p.m. at home.