Publication Date: Friday, November 11, 2005
PREP FOOTBALL
A title may come to pass
A title may come to pass
(November 11, 2005) Paly pass defense will be crucial in title showdown
by Keith Peters
Pass defense is a big reason why the Palo Alto High football team has won eight of nine games this season.
During that time, no opposing quarterback has thrown for more than 100 yards while Paly defenders have picked off at least 15 passes.
Tonight, the Vikings' defense will be put to the test when defending champion Los Gatos (4-1, 7-2) and quarterback Danny Sullivan come calling with the SCVAL De Anza Division title at stake. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
"They're the best passing team we've faced," said Paly coach Earl Hansen, giving a nod to Sullivan, who has thrown for 1,706 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. That's more than all nine Paly opponents have combined for. Sullivan has completed 59 percent of his passes with just six interceptions.
"He's a dropback guy, which we haven't faced," Hansen said. "If he drops back and throws on time, he'll keep throwing all night. We need to get to him. If we can do that, we'll be in good shape."
Well, sort of.
Paly will be without junior quarterback Nick Goodspeed, who separated his right (throwing) shoulder two weeks ago. He'll be held out for the second straight game to rest his shoulder for the Central Coast Section playoffs, which begin next week.
Paly senior Jon Koepfgen will start at quarterback for the second straight week. Hansen said he has had an extra week of practice and is more comfortable and confident, especially after helping the Vikings upend Wilcox last Friday, 14-0.
That victory gave Palo Alto (5-0, 8-1) sole possession of first place and gave the Vikings a shot at winning their first outright league title since 1992. The Vikings are allowing just 10.8 points a game while scoring 29.5 per outing.
Paly, however, generated just 123 yards against Wilcox in a run-oriented offense to keep the pressure off Koepfgen.
"We need to move the ball more on offense," Hansen acknowledged. "We're not fooling anyone this week."
While it took Wilcox a while to figure out Paly wasn't going to pass much last week, Los Gatos likely will start tonight's game geared to stopping a Vikings' running game that dominated the clock against Wilcox.
Junior Will Frazier and senior Roger Prince will have to carry the ball and much of the offensive load. Koepfgen will have to throw more than the six times he did last week, getting the ball to fleet junior Maurice Williams and tall senior wideout Cooper Miller.
No matter what happens tonight, Hansen expects to be hosting a CCS Medium Schools Division playoff game next Friday night.
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