The Palo Alto Vikings fall to the Half Moon Bay cougars 48-7, in the season home opener. The Vikings put up their first points on the board with their only touchdown late in the second half.

The Cougars offense consisted of many fullback carries along with a quarterback read option play that overwhelmed the Viking defense.

“Against them their trying to dink and dunk in terms of yardage,” head coach Danny Sullivan said “If you’re not disciplined they make you pay.”

The Vikings offense started of slow, with a few costly penalties along with a couple of slight overthrows from quarterback Jackson Chryst (‘19).

The Cougars offense was able to capitalize on the slow start for the Vikings and scored on all four first quarter drives to take a early 27-0 lead.

Offensively, the Vikings struggled in the passing game, as the timing between Chryst (‘19) and his receivers was slightly off, especially on deep throws. The struggling pass game for the Vikings allowed the Cougar defense to key in on running back Paul Jackson III (’18) and force the Vikings in many third and long situations.  

The Vikings were not able to recover from a slow start and the Cougars continued to utilize the run game with running back Chase Hoffman, who scored five touchdowns.

After coming into the season with high aspirations, the overall theme for the Viking’s season so far is disappointment,

“I think the kids need to start believing that they can execute certain things that were trying to do and that falls on the way that we’re teaching it now,” Sullivan said “I need to look in the mirror and I figure out what’s best for this program going forward.”

The Vikings look to bounce back on the road next friday, September 8th against Archbishop Mitty.