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While a Central Coast Section playoff berth is wrapped up, Palo Alto still has a little work to do to win the SCVAL De Anza Division football championship. It comes down to just two scenarios.

If the Vikings beat Wilcox next Friday, they win. If Paly loses to Wilcox but Milpitas beats Los Gatos, the Vikings win.

It's that simple after Palo Alto (4-0-1, 7-1-1) disposed of winless Mountain View while Los Gatos (4-1, 7-2) knocked Wilcox (3-2, 6-3) out of the title picture with a 26-14 defeat on Friday night. Milpitas, with two league losses, can't overtake Paly but can help the Vikings.

Palo Alto remained atop the division with its expected victory at Mountain View in the Vikings' only day game of the season. Junior T.J. Braff helped take care of things quickly by completing his first nine passes. He finished 9-of-10 for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Davante Adams caught a 12-yarder and Maurice Williams hauled in one from 23 yards out. Braff also scored on a two-yard plunge.

The Vikings also got two short TD runs by Jared Beeson and a three-yard plunge by Miles Anderson. Peter Ibarra rushed for 76 yards and Palo Alto held a comfortable 28-0 lead at halftime.

Mountain View (0-6, 3-6) did run for 238 yards, compared to 199 for Paly, but managed only 12 yards through the air. The Spartans scored both their touchdowns against Paly's reserves, the second one coming with just 38 seconds to play.

Gunn 41, Santa Clara 14
The Titans remained in a second-place tie in the SCVAL El Camino Division with a solid victory over Santa Clara at Buchser Middle School on Friday night. Gunn improved to 4-1 in league (6-3 overall) but still trails first-place Los Altos (5-1, 6-3), which knocked Monta Vista out of the title picture with a 35-14 victory.

"That was the strangest 41-14 game I've ever been involved in," Gunn coach Bob Sykes told gunntitans.com after the game. "For the first three quarters every time we looked like we would get control, Santa Clara battled back. They have some really good players who battled."

However, it was the Gunn underclassmen of juniors Josh Jackson, Henry Ayala, Anthony Cannon, along with sophomore Casey Jackson, that helped make the difference on this night.

Of course a few key plays by Gunn senior Maceo Parks and the tough running of Jonathan Godoy helped clinched the Titans' first winning season since a six win campaign in 2003.

As has been the case in all six Gunn wins, the Titans earned it on the ground as they rushed for a season-high 395 yards on 48 carries. Josh Jackson gained 100 yards on 13 carries while Godoy had 78 yards on 14 hauls, Cannon added 77 yards on eight runs from his quarterback position, Parks added 72 yards on just three carries, and Casey Jackson had 64 yards on 10 carries to lead the way.

Gunn broke away from a close game by marching 94 yards on 12 plays, all on the ground, with Casey Jackson going in from nine yards out for a 14-6 game. An interception by Parks, one of four by the Titans, set up one-yard run by Cannon and a 20-7 halftime lead.

Santa Clara got to within 20-14 in the third quarter and looked to be back in business when Casey Jackson fumbled and the Bruins recovered. Ayala then came up with the first of his two interceptions to set up a 37-yard scoring run by Parks and a 27-14 lead.

Ayala intercepted his second pass of the night with 1:30 left in the third quarter and Santa Clara at the Gunn 18. The Titans then went 82 yards, with the first 67 coming on the ground before a 15 yard play action fake from Cannon to Blake Johnson to put Gunn up 34-14 with 8:48 remaining in the game.

Gunn recovered an onside kick at the Bruins' 33 and, on the very first play, Cannon executed a perfect fake handoff and went 33 yards for the second Titans' touchdown in 12 seconds to make the final score 41-14.

Sacred Heart Prep 35, Aragon 12
With senior Matt Walter rushing for 260 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, the host Gators rolled over Aragon in a PAL Bay Division finale on Friday afternoon. Sacred Heart Prep improved to 4-1 in league (7-2 overall). The Gators finished second in their first-ever appearance in the Bay.

Sacred Heart simply pounded its way past the Dons (2-3, 5-4) as the Gators gained 428 yards on the ground. With 8:30 left in the game and SHP holding a 28-12 lead, the Gators drove 85 yards on 10 runs to eat up the clock. Aragon got the ball back but had only 2:20 left.

Aside from a couple of fumbles, the Gators' offense was pretty much in control. Walter scored on runs of 22, five and six yards. He also ripped off runs of 38 and 48 yards that set up Sacred Heart Prep's final two touchdowns.

Menlo 42, Carlmont 35
The Knights kept their CCS playoff hopes alive with a wild triumph over visiting Carlmont to close the PAL Ocean Division season on Friday afternoon. Menlo (3-2, 6-3) scored 28 unanswered points to rally from a 21-point deficit for its third straight victory that was preserved when junior cornerback Jordan Williams broke up a long fourth-down pass.

Both teams combined for 940 yards, Carlmont (3-6, 0-5) rushed to a 28-7 second-quarter lead. Menlo's Beau Nichols' failed to score from the 1-yard line as the half ended, but he finished with three touchdowns runs – including the winner from three yards out with 4:38 left to play. Nichols finished with 146 rushing yards.

Menlo senior quarterback Danny Diekroeger threw three touchdown passes while completing 23 of 35 passes for 374 yards. He's closing in on 3,000 passing yards. Clay Robbins caught 10 passes for 227 yards to as the Knights finished with 509 total yards.

Terra Nova 49, Menlo-Atherton 27
The Bears had their best statistical game of the season, but it still didn's matter as the host Tigers kept M-A winless in PAL Bay Division action on Friday night in Pacifica.

Terra Nova (5-0, 6-3) clinched the division crown despite being losing nearly every statistical category to the Bears ((0-4, 1-8). Menlo-Atherton remarkably led in time of possession, 32:44 to 14:05; rushed for a season-high 370 yards; finished with a season-best 495 total yards, and scored more points than in any other game this season.

Junior Sakalia rushed 18 times for 113 yards and scored on runs of 22 and five yards with Stephen Fifita added 87 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Jonathan Hoech even contributed 125 passing yards on 10 of 14 completions while Michael Brown caught four passes for 67 yards.

Still, it wasn't enough.

-- PA Weekly Online Sports