It's a fresh start in the postseason It's a fresh start in the postseason (November 16, 2005)

Palo Alto can forget ugly 63-28 loss beginning on Friday when Vikings host SSF in CCS Medium School Division playoffs

by Keith Peters

Palo Alto High football coach Earl Hansen would like to think that ugly 63-28 loss to Los Gatos last Friday didn't happen. But it did.

Still, it's easy to file that one away under Games Never To Be Remembered.

"It wasn't the last game of the season," Hansen said.

No, it wasn't. As the Vikings head into this week's Central Coast Section playoffs, the stark realization is that Paly is just one loss from having its season end.

The Vikings also are just three wins from claiming their second CCS title in the program's history.

The first step toward that takes place Friday when the No. 3-seeded Vikings (8-2) play host to No. 6 South San Francisco (8-2) in the opening round of the Medium School Division playoffs.

The winner advances to play either No. 7 Terra Nova (6-4) or No. 2 Westmont (9-0-1), with that victor advancing to the championship game and likely facing top-seeded Los Gatos (8-2).

Hansen would like nothing better than to face Los Gatos again. The Wildcats' lopsided victory last Friday not only forced a three-way tie for the SCVAL De Anza Division championship but it prevented the Vikings from winning their first outright title since 1992.

"We're still co-champions," Hansen said, "but it (the loss) took the edge off it. The only way to fix that is win the next Friday."

Which brings us to South San Francisco, the third-place finisher in the PAL Bay Division. The Warriors defeated Burlingame and Terra Nova during the league season. Both are in Medium School Division playoffs.

"They (SSF) don't throw much, but they're big," said Hansen, who was watching tape of SSF on Monday morning.

The important thing to remember is Paly won't face a quarterback like Danny Sullivan of Los Gatos until perhaps facing Sullivan again in the finals. That is good news for the Vikings in their next two games.

Sullivan had a career high against Paly, completing 16 of 19 passes with no interceptions for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Sullivan threw for 243 yards in the first half while the Wildcats built a 35-14 lead and put the game out of reach.

"That's the best he's played in his career, according to (Los Gatos coach) Butch (Cattolico)," Hansen said. "We saw the best offensive team we've seen this season."

Los Gatos totaled 548 yards on offense, the most the Vikings have given up this season. And the 63 points? According to records, it's the most in school history and the Vikings have been playing football since 1897.

Hansen, however, said the score was an aberration.

"The fact of the matter is, it's not a game like that if we play normal," he said.

And Palo Alto did not play against Los Gatos like it had earlier in the season. The Vikings had six big mistakes that led to six touchdowns by the Wildcats. Among the lowlights:

After Los Gatos scored to take a 21-14 lead in the second quarter, a low kickoff bounced off Paly's John Stirrat and was recovered by Los Gatos. Three plays later it was 28-14.

On Paly's next possession, quarterback Jon Koepfgen threw an interception. Two plays later Sullivan connected on a 44-yard scoring play for a 35-14 halftime lead.

In the fourth quarter, a Paly fumble led to a Los Gatos touchdown and 56-28 lead while Koepfgen's third interception resulted in yet another TD and the Wildcats' final points.

It was that kind of night for the Vikings, who only a week earlier had taken advantage of five Wilcox turnovers to post an 14-0 upset win that gave Los Gatos an opportunity to keep alive its streak of winning seven consecutive league titles (outright or shared).

Paly will go against SSF on Friday without starting quarterback Nick Goodspeed, who is still resting his right (throwing) shoulder from an injury suffered three weeks ago. Hansen expects Goodspeed to be ready for the second round of CCS.

Koepfgen did throw for a career-high 195 yards and three touchdowns against Los Gatos. The key factor, however, is Paly's running game that generated a season-low 56 yards last Friday. The Wildcats rushed eight and nine men on nearly every play.

Menlo 56, Jefferson 8

The Knights (4-3, 5-5) closed their season with seven different players scoring touchdowns. Senior quarterback Andy Gregg completed eight of 11 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

Colin Burke had two interception for Menlo, returning one 58 yards for the final touchdown.

Los Altos 21, Gunn 0

The Titans finished 2-4 in the SCVAL El Camino Division (3-7 overall) following their season-ending loss to the Spartans at Foothill College. Senior Cory Babbington rushed for 70 yards in his final game for Gunn, which generated just 146 yards in total offense. Chevalier Riley intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble, but the Titans couldn't turn either into points.

SHP 63, Berean Christian 26

The Gators finished off a fine 6-4 season (4-2 in the Bay Football League) with a lopsided romp. Senior quarterback Pat Coffey completed all four of his passes for 167 yards and four touchdowns and junior running back Anthony Riesch rushed for 161 yards and four TDs to surpass 1,000 rushing yards this season.

Matt Connor caught TD passes of 45, 46 and 71 yards for the Gators.
Woodside 54, M-A 0

The Bears' dismal season (0-7, 1-9) ended in yet another bad loss. M-A was held to a minus-21 yards rushing and managed just 44 passing yards while recording its worst PAL Bay Division finish this decade.

The Bears had two punts blocked and lost five fumbles while earning just two first downs.

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