Lucky number 13. The Palo Alto High School football team (13-0) prevailed over Valley Christian High School (11-2) tonight, 21-14, continuing its undefeated run while taking home the Central Coast Section Open Division championship, and a chance to play for a state title.
The Vikings improve to 4-0 against West Catholic Athletic League opponents, having taken down the WCAL’s top three teams in the CCS playoffs.
“They got public schooled, that’s all there is to say,” linebacker Michael Cullen (‘11) said.
The Vikings came out of the gates with an electric 20-yard run by running back B.J. Boyd (‘12), and a few plays later, a run by his partner in the backfield, Dre Hill (‘12), for 15 yards. However, the Warrior defense stood strong, sacking Viking quarterback Christoph Bono (‘11) on fourth down to turn the ball over.
After a fourth down stop of their own, the Vikings found themselves in a fourth down and long situation on the Valley Christian 34-yard line on their next drive. Bono dropped back, and threw deep, over the head of cornerback and star running back Byron Marshall (‘12), into the hands of wide receiver Maurice Williams (‘11) in the endzone for a touchdown. Bono finished the night with 215 yards on 12-for-17 passing, with two touchdowns.
“We’re balanced on offense and our defense is unbelievable,” Bono said. “We’re going to take it one day at a time, and leave it all out on the field [at the State Bowl].”
At the start of the second quarter, Paly lined up to punt from its own territory. An errant snap took the breath out of the Paly stands, but thanks to an athletic play by Bono, who is also the Viking punter, he was able to get off a three-yard punt, avoiding disaster. On third down of the following drive, Viking defensive end Tory Prati (‘12) broke through the Warrior offensive front to sack Valley Christian quarterback Zach Vaiana (‘11), bringing up fourth down. The Vikings then proceeded to stop the Warriors, forcing their second straight turnover on downs.
Defense on both sides of the ball dominated the rest of the quarter, both teams failing to find the end zone. With 31.7 seconds remaining in the half, on third down and 15, Viking linebacker Will Glazier (‘11) brought down Vaiana for the third Paly sack of the half, making a statement and sending his team into the locker room with a 7-0 lead.
“This team is explosive,” Paly assistant coach Steve Foug said. “We can score at any time, whenever we want. The 2006 state team was about clock management; 2010, we strike like a cobra.”
Valley Christian saw a spark in its offense in the second half when fullback Jarrod Lawson (‘12) broke away for a 17-yard scamper into Paly territory. But the stout Viking defense held strong again, stopping the Warriors on fourth down for the third time.
Only a minute later, with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter, Bono flicked a pass short to his right to Williams, who burst up the sideline and raced to the end zone for a 78-yard score, putting the Vikings up 14-0. Williams racked up 121 yards on just three receptions, and contributed two of three Viking touchdowns.
With the momentum already in Paly’s direction, the Vikings looked for some inspiration. Lining up for what appeared to be a normal kickoff, Paly caught the Warrior special teams unit off guard with an onside kick, which Viking linebacker Brennan Miller (‘12) pounced upon, giving Paly possession.
“To win championships you’ve got to be able to take risks,” Paly head coach Earl Hansen said. “When [the game] is evenly matched, you’ve got to take shots when you think you have a good one.”
The Warriors found some life in the fourth quarter, engineering a solid drive into the Paly red zone, where Marshall punched his way into the end zone from the eight-yard line with 10 minutes left in the game. The Vikings held Marshall to just 66 yards on 15 carries on the night.
On the ensuing Paly drive, the Warriors’ hopes of a comeback were almost crushed. Boyd took the handoff from Bono and ran up the middle into a wall of Valley Christian defenders. Staying on his feet, he cut back and jumped outside, breaking away for a 66-yard touchdown, putting the Vikings up by two scores, 21-7. Boyd ended the game with 107 yards on 13 carries, with the lone touchdown.
“We went 100 percent the whole time,” Boyd said. “All gas, no brakes.”
Valley Christian threatened to score again when Warrior wide receiver Brian Fobbs (‘11) scurried up the sideline for a 43-yard kickoff return to the Paly 40-yard line. But the Viking defense was not phased. Vaiana took a shot to the end zone to Fobbs, throwing into double coverage, where Williams got a paw on the ball, tipping it into the hands of safety Bill Gray (‘11) for an interception. Vaiana finished his night 11-for-23 passing, compiling 150 yards and one interception.
Looking for a miracle, the Valley Christian defense forced a fourth down from the Vikings, trying to get the ball back in the hands of its offense. The Vikings, however, dipped into their bag of tricks, as Adams called a direct snap on what looked to be a regular punt. After receiving the snap, Adams broke into the open and ran down field for a 31-yard gain and a big first down with only 3:31 left to play.
The trickery resulted in a missed 38-yard field goal by Bono, but the Vikings had done their job: they chewed up the clock.
“We play as a team, everyone trusts each other,” Stanford-bound defensive end Kevin Anderson (‘11), who had one of five Paly sacks on the night, said.
With 20.4 seconds remaining, Lawson found his way into the end zone from the one-yard line, tightening the gap to 21-14. Unfortunately for the Warriors, time was not on their side. After a failed onside kick, that was all she wrote.
“We hung in there and made them work, we just couldn’t get it going early,” Valley Christian head coach Mike Machado said.
The victory continues the Vikings’ undefeated season, improving their record to 13-0, but they know the job is not done. This win completes an impressive resume for Paly, which seeks a bid to represent Northern California in the California Interscholastic Federation State Bowl on either Dec. 17 or 18 against the Southern California selection, where the Vikings look to redeem their loss to Orange Lutheran High School in 2006 at the CIF championships.
“I’m very excited to be on a team like this with so many great players,” Adams said. “We haven’t lost yet, and I’m confident that if we keep doing what we’re doing, that won’t be changing anytime soon.”
