Palo Alto holds strong after a shutout first half at home to beat Patterson 25-12 on Friday, August 26.

“It feels good. I’m proud of the way we played,” said Jordan Schilling (‘17) of his first start at the quarterback position.

The Vikings started with a run heavy offense, relying heavily on running back Paul Jackson III (‘18). He was utilized on six of nine plays in the opening drive. His longest gain came off of a screen pass from Schilling for 33 yards.

Jackson III capped off the drive with a 5 yard touchdown run, barreling through a Patterson defender to cross the goal line and give the Vikings an early first quarter lead. Kicker Luca Zaharias (‘17) added the PAT to make it 7-0.

Later in the first quarter, Palo Alto’s Alec Cohen-Schisler (‘17) recovered a Patterson fumbled exchange to give the Vikings the ball deep in Patterson territory. The Vikings capitalized with another Paul Jackson score. PAT good and the score was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Palo Alto forced two more turnovers in the first half. One, an interception by Brian Rodriguez (‘18) and the other a fumble recovered by Cohen-Schisler for his second recovery of the night.

The next score was a 75 yard TD pass off a scramble from backup quarterback Jackson Chryst (‘19) to receiver Jackson Hall (‘18). Schilling connected with tight end Nick Smallwood (‘17) for the two point conversion to make it 22-0.

Zaharias hit a field goal as time expired to give the Vikes a 25-0 lead at halftime.

Though the Vikings’ offense was quieter in the second half, their defense held strong until late in the third quarter. Patterson got on the board with a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 25-6 at the end of the third.

Patterson persisted with another 30-yard passing score in the middle of the fourth quarter to make it 25-12.

Still, the Vikings relied on the running game to run out the clock and maintain possession. The final score left the Vikings on top 25-12.

It was Head Coach Danny Sullivan’s first game in Palo Alto, and he expressed his appreciation in the team’s performance as a whole.

“There’s nothing more I can say. [Patterson] is extremely good. They’re well coached, but our guys just played amazing,” Sullivan said. “We know it’s one game, and we’ve got to get ready for the next.”

Palo Alto looks to take turn their momentum into another victory San Benito next Friday, September 2.