The Vikings came up just short in their season opener against Mountain View, falling 46-44 on a game winning field goal.
The team opened strong with two touchdowns from junior Clement Romanski, one on a long jet sweep run and another on a short catch and run over the middle.
“We were all on the same page and we did a great job setting blocks early on,” Romanski said.
However, as the game went on, Mountain View was able to recover and close the gap, eventually taking the lead at the start of the third quarter.
Throughout the game, the Vikings appeared to be in control, methodically stringing together long drives and moving the ball downfield. Yet each time, Mountain View always responded with explosive plays of their own.
We played well on offense, with our offensive line giving our QB time to throw and our receivers making catches,” junior Mack Reller said. “Our defense could improve by getting in the correct formations, which will help us prevent big plays in the future.”
Late in the fourth quarter, the Vikings were down seven with only a few minutes to play. Remarkably, they were able to put together an amazing drive which included a fourth down conversion and an eight-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Justin Fung.
Now down by one, the Vikings chose to go for two and the lead, rather than settling for the extra point.
“We talked about if we got in that scenario what we would go for,” senior Kacey Washington said. “Based on us and the players we had out there, going for two was the right move.”
The two-point play was a jet sweep to the left for Washington, and he reached out to the pylon and scored it. They were now up by one with one minute to play.
“I heard the play, I knew it was going to me, and I didn’t want to let anyone down,” Washington said. “When someone calls a play for you, you feel like you have to get it done.”
Unfortunately, in the one-minute remaining, Mountain View was able to complete a long pass and set themselves up for a game winning field goal.
“The loss hurt, but it showed us that our offense can score, and it helped us identify what works on defense and what needs to be fixed,” senior Malcolm Phillips said.
In the end, it was a disappointing loss, but the Vikings still had some positives to take away from the game.
“We put up 44 so the offense is there, and we are not missing any talent on defense, we just made more mistakes than they did,” Washington said. “We’re going to mentally focus and mentally prepare and bounce back with a win next week.”
Star wide receiver and cornerback Jake Wang was out this game with a groin injury, he is questionable to return for week two against Burlingame.
