Billie Jean King once said that “champions keep playing until they get it right.”
This Friday Oct. 7th, the Palo Alto High School Vikings “got it right” against Wilcox
High School, trumping the Chargers 42-13.
The Chargers burst forth in the first minutes of the game, making their
presence known with a 60 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Aguilar (‘12) to running back Keenan Gates.
With their opponents on the board, the Vikings re-organized quickly to look for
an equalizer. The very next play Paly was back on track when running back
B.J. Boyd (’12) returned a kick off for an 80 yard touchdown.
Within the first two minutes of the game the score was already tied 7-7.
From that point on however, Paly pulled away and didn’t look back. The team
continued to find it’s rhythm when Aguilar was sacked by the Vikings’ defensive tackle Nathan Hubbard
(’12) and linebacker Ozzy Braff (’12). Strong defense from Hubbard, Braff, linebacker Brennan Miller (’12)
and tackle Chris Martinez (’12) put the Vikings’ offense back in scoring position
just two minutes after their first touchdown.
Quarterback Keller Chryst (‘14) found the hands of Morris Gates-Mouton (’12)
who continued to run for a 56 yard touchdown, giving the Vikings a seven point lead, 14-7.
The Chargers made several attempts to try and respond to the Vikings’ offense
but were unsuccessful.
“Defensively we tackled very well. Offensively we moved the ball, we ran well,” head coach Earl Hansen said. “We had a
good, balanced attack.”
And tackle well they did. Aguilar was sacked by Hubbard and Gates-Mouton
once again to give the Vikings the ball. Chryst followed with an 11 yard pass to Jayshawn Gates-Mouton (’13) and
in the next play quickly found fullback Dre Hill (’12) for an 80 yard touchdown. The Vikings kept up hammering the Chargers, sacking Aguilar once more on the one yard line.
Offensively, the Vikings showed no mercy, and scored once again when Chryst found Boyd 30 yards down field for yet another touchdown, 27-7, Paly. With time winding down in the first half, Boyd powered through the Charger defense for 48 yards, and his third touchdown on the night and a 34-7 lead going into the break.
The third quarter saw a series of incomplete passes, fumbles and sacks on both sides, until Chryst hooked up with Jayshawn for a 40 yard touchdown and commanding 42-7 lead in the Vikings’ favor.
“We ran our plays really well, we all came to the ball on defense. Everybody gave 150 percent,” Morris said. “We’ll be improving on timing and wrapping up.”
Aguilar would find tight end Mo Iese (’13) for 44 yard touchdown, but was unable to put a dent in the Vikings’ lead.