October 19, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Palo Alto's remaining schedule is a winner

by Keith Peters

The way the football season is unfolding for Palo Alto, it would appear Vikings' head coach Earl Hansen carefully scheduled each and every game.

Actually, he didn't. Before the 2004 season, it was a random draw. And for 2005?

"I chose only two games," Hansen said.

And those were the opening nonleague contests against Carlmont and Burlingame, which resulted in a 1-1 start for Palo Alto. Since that loss to Burlingame, the Vikings have won four straight and take a 2-0 mark in the SCVAL De Anza Division (5-1 overall) into Friday's league game Saratoga at 3:15 p.m.

The Falcons are 1-2 in league and have given up a league-high 211 points.

The following Friday, Paly plays host to Mountain View in another very winnable game for the Vikings.

Should Palo Alto win both those games, it will clinch no worse than third place in the division and earn an automatic CCS berth before facing first-place Wilcox on Nov. 4 and perennial power Los Gatos on Nov. 11.

In previous years, the Vikings have played Wilcox and Los Gatos earlier in the season and been faced with the prospect of having to win games late in the year to qualify for CCS.

"We used to have Milpitas, Wilcox and Los Gatos in a row when Milpitas was very good," Hansen said.

This season, however, the De Anza Division isn't as strong as it has been. That, coupled with Paly's schedule, has set up the playoff scenario in the coming weeks.

While clinching a CCS berth before the final two games seems like an ideal situation, Hansen admitted otherwise.

"It's a double-edge sword," he said. "It's nice to already be in CCS, but I want to make the last game of the season very important. We want to make it mean something."

Should the Vikings win their next two, those final two will be meaningful. Paly will have the opportunity to either throw the division into a three-way tie or win the championship outright.

Wilcox surprised Los Gatos last Friday, handing the defending champs a 17-14 loss.

"If we can beat those teams and gather some momentum going into CCS, we're going to be hard to handle," Hansen admitted.

Palo Alto is coming off a 35-14 nonleague win over Los Altos last Friday, which featured a career-best performance by quarterback Nick Goodspeed. The junior completed 19 of 26 passes for a career-high 298 yards and four touchdowns.

"Nick did great," Hansen said. "No question, it was his best varsity game to date. He was on rhythm and made very few mistakes. He had an excellent game."

Goodspeed gave his team a 14-7 halftime lead on scoring tosses of 23 and nine yards to Will Frazier. After Los Altos tied the game at 14 in the third period, Goodspeed hit junior Maurice Williams for a 45-yard touchdown and Evan Warner raced 37 yards for another.

Goodspeed put the finishing touches on his career night with an eight-yard TD pass to Cooper Miller in the fourth quarter.

While Goodspeed was taking care of the points, the Paly defense made its move to shut down the Eagles. After rushing for 183 yards on 26 carries in the first 19 minutes, Los Altos was held to a minus-14 yards on its final six carries.

Paly gained only 97 yards on the ground, but that was due in part to Los Altos stacking eight players on the line and daring the Vikings to pass. Goodspeed took the dare.

Williams had a career-high 100 receiving yards on four catches while Miller finished with six catches for 96 yards, in addition to having another solid game on defense. Paly's offensive line, meanwhile, created a nice pocket for Goodspeed and protected the young QB. Goodspeed has completed 68 of 117 for 1,172 yards and 12 touchdowns in six games.

PAL Ocean Division

Menlo has a schedule working in its favor after posting a big 47-34 victory over host El Camino last Friday. The win moved the Knights to 2-1 in league (3-3 overall) heading into Friday's 3 p.m. game at Mills (2-1, 3-3).

If the Knights can get by Mills, they'll face only one opponent (Capuchino) with a winning record in the final three games.

The play of Menlo's offensive line will be key from here on out. It held up last week, giving senior quarterback Andy Gregg time to complete 13 of 22 passes for 219 yards and four touchdowns. Gregg now has thrown for 1,147 yards and 13 TDs this season.

Menlo coach Mark Newton saluted the offensive line for its improved work and said Gregg continues to improve and make smart decisions. That combination, of course, bodes well in the coming weeks.

If Menlo can get some more big games out of running back Leon Ivery, that would help, as well. Ivery picked up a season-high 144 yards on 17 carries and scored on a 37-yard run to give the Knights a 47-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Bouvier and Ricky Hawkins also contributed in a big way as both had a pair of TD receptions. Hawkins finished with 102 receiving yards on four catches.

Bay Football League

Sacred Heart Prep (2-1, 4-3) kept its title hopes alive as Anthony Riesch rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the Gators' 42-0 triumph over host California School of the Deaf on Saturday in Fremont.

Ty Hyland added 101 yards on just six carries as SHP had two players rush for more than 100 yards for the second time this season.

Hyland provided the winning points in the first quarter when he took a handoff and raced 70 yards for a touchdown. Dillon Chambers added 60 yards as the Gators piled up 276 on the ground.

Kevin Dos Remedios sparked the defensive effort by picking off two of his team's four interceptions.

Sacred Heart Prep is on the road again Saturday at St. Elizabeth.

El Camino Division

The season isn't getting any better for Gunn (1-2, 2-4), which must visit Los Gatos on Friday night in a nonleague test at 7:30 p.m. The timing is awful for the Titans, who are coming off a 38-0 loss to Santa Clara while Los Gatos is coming off a 17-14 setback to Wilcox. It has been a long time since the Wildcats have lost two straight.

Gunn needs to find some offense in a hurry, after gaining just 76 total yards against Santa Clara.

PAL Bay Division

The highlight for Menlo-Atherton on Saturday was the dedication of its field. Coach Ben Parks, who coached the Bears from 1968-84, had the field named in his honor during a special pregame ceremony.

Once the Bears took to Coach Parks Field, visiting South San Francisco took over and rolled to a 28-14 victory as M-A fell to 0-3 in league (1-5 overall).

The Bears gained just 80 yards rushing. Junior quarterback Efalame Wolfgramm kept it close for a while by completing 13 of 20 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown - a 12-yarder to Noah Bennett, who had eight catches for 102 yards.

The Bears visit Burlingame (2-1, 4-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.

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