October 20, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

A title at stake for Paly

by Keith Peters

It may be only halfway through the SCVAL De Anza Division season, but a possible championship already is at stake.

Palo Alto and Los Gatos are both 3-0 in the division and 5-1 overall with three games left to play. Their next game is the biggest. That would be Friday night (7:30 p.m.) when the Vikings host the Wildcats for the first time ever under the lights. "This is for the championship, no question," said Paly head coach Earl Hansen. While both teams have games remaining, their showdown will pretty much decide the division champion. The Vikings still must face Milpitas (at home) and Homestead (away), but Paly appears to have the upper hand against both. Saratoga beat Milpitas, 14-2, and Paly beat the Falcons, 35-28. Wilcox crushed Homestead, 38-7, and Paly whomped the Chargers, 29-19, last Friday night in Santa Clara. That victory over Wilcox is telling for Palo Alto. The Chargers are considered the division's largest team, in terms of physical size. Yet, the Vikings pushed them around like never before. "They (Wilcox) couldn't stop us," Hansen said. "We physically beat them in every phase of the game." The confidence gained from such a performance will be needed against Los Gatos, a team Palo Alto rarely beats. The Vikings, however, will be playing at home and in front of a homecoming crowd. To make the night even more special, the undefeated Palo Alto frosh-soph team (6-0) will host undefeated Los Gatos in the evening's first of two showdowns. "We don't have to build up Los Gatos," Hansen said. "They're not a good as they used to be. They don't have a Trent Edwards (at quarterback) or a Danny Bates (at running back). But, they're good." Bates carried 37 times for 243 yards and five touchdowns in last year's 41-14 win over Paly, which gave up 451 yards to the Wildcats. Bates and quarterback Erik Rollin have graduated, however, and Palo Alto is much-improved in all facets of the game. In last year's 35-21 loss to Wilcox, for example, Paly gave up 277 rushing yards and 355 total yards. Paly quarterback Nathan Ford threw for just 69 yards and receiver Matt Wismann caught two balls for 28 yards. In last Friday's win, Paly limited Wilcox to 161 rushing yards and 194 overall. Ford completed 17 of 24 passes for 209 yards, with no interceptions, while Wismann caught seven for 132 yards. Thus, much has changed since last season. Paly's young offensive line, which includes sophomores Fred Koloto and Will Elmore alongside Nabil Balamane, Trevor Bisset and Tim Currie, is getting better each week. The defensive line of Balamane, Koloto, David Esquivel and Currie and the linebacking corps of Ted Way, Roger Prince and Roger Villanueva has helped limit the opposition to an average of 15.4 points a game during the Vikings' current five-game win streak. Los Gatos, of course, will be the toughest test of the year for Palo Alto. The Wildcats like to run out of various formations with the quarterback hiding the ball at all times. While Paly was able to concentrate on stopping the Wilcox run (the Chargers threw for only 33 yards), Los Gatos also offers a dangerous passing attack. "Los Gatos has such an array of different things," Hansen said, "and they have the capability of throwing." Hansen said the keys to beating Los Gatos are fairly straightforward. "We can't give them the short field," he said. "And, we have to score when we have the opportunity. We have to keep the ball, then turn to our strengths of pass-blocking and Nathan." Ford, of course, is the trigger man in the Vikings' offense. While Paly has some solid running backs in John Ginanni (51 yards on 14 carries against Wilcox), Todd Burpee (18 carries for 48 yards with two touchdowns last Friday) and the aforementioned Prince, the Vikings need to get a big game out of Ford. Ford was very efficient against Wilcox and now has completed 35 of 49 passes for 418 yards and three touchdowns in his past two games. Against Wilcox, Ford also kicked a career-best 45-yard field goal and scored on a one-yard run to give the Vikings a 22-13 lead in the third quarter. Wismann, meanwhile, continues to be the go-to receiver in addition to being a valuable defensive back. He had a 43-yard reception to set up Paly's first touchdown, had two catches for 23 yards to set up Ford's field goal that ended the half at 16-6, and caught a 28-yarder that put the ball on the Wilcox 2 to set up Ford's game-winning plunge. All that, however, will be quickly forgotten this week among homecoming activities. The focus now is on Los Gatos, the distinct possibilities of returning to the Central Coast Section playoffs and accomplishing something very special in Palo Alto football history.

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