The Palo Alto Vikings’ football team suffered a tough loss after coming up short against the Wilcox Chargers 42-39 on Friday, Oct. 11 in their second home game of the season.
Despite the loss, coach Earl Hansen took some positives out of the game, including the skillful play by the newer members of the team.
“I saw some of our younger sophomores really grow up today,” Hansen said. “They [Wilcox] were a little bigger and stronger, and it was that close.”
The game started off strong with the Chargers taking the lead, scoring a touchdown after a long run within the first five minutes of the the game. The Vikings responded with a fast touchdown pass from quarterback Keller Chryst (’14) to Malcolm Davis (‘14) with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Chargers scored the final points of the quarter with a touchdown run, bringing the score to 14-7 with the Chargers in the lead.
The Chargers increased their lead with a touchdown in the first few minutes of the second quarter. The Vikings were then able to find the end zone once again with a pass from Chryst to Eli Givens (’16). Another touchdown allowed the Vikings to close in on the Chargers’ lead. However, the Vikings missed the extra point and the first half ended with the Vikings coming up short, with the Chargers leading 21-20.
Both teams came back strong after halftime, with the Chargers scoring a touchdown with six minutes left in the quarter. The Vikings responded quickly with a touchdown pass from Chryst to Givens once again. The Vikings’ momentum continued as Keesean Johnson (‘14) ran a punt back for a touchdown for the final points of the quarter, but extra point attempt was unsuccessful. The third quarter ended with the Vikings taking a 32-28 lead over the Chargers.
The teams battled for the lead in the fourth quarter, with the Chargers scoring the first touchdown of the quarter. The Vikings responded with a touchdown run from Chryst, putting the Vikings in the lead 39-34. With less than 2 minutes left in the game, Wilcox scored another touchdown and a successful two point conversion allowed them to hold onto a 42-39 lead over the Vikings. The final score of the game was 42-39 with the Vikings coming up short against the Chargers.
Quarterback Chryst also took a positive outlook on the game despite the loss, applauding the team for their work as a whole.
“It was a good overall team effort, I thought we played well,” Chryst said.
Johnson agrees with Chryst on the quality of the team effort and has set high goals for the team as they continue their league season.
“We fought hard throughout the whole game,” Johnson said. “My goals moving forward for the team are working everyday at practice and to win”.
The Vikings will play the Saratoga Falcons on October 18 at Saratoga High School.
