Paly football ties Wilcox 14-14, takes league title

Vikings clinch De Anza Division league championship

posted November 13, 2009

by Mark Raftrey and Jack Smale of Viking

Alex Kershner

Paly linemen block a pass early in their 14-14 tie at Wilcox. The Vikings would go on to win the tiebreaker and take first place in the De Anza league.

The Palo Alto High School varsity football team tied Wilcox High School (6-3-1), 14-14, Friday night at Wilcox. The tie gives Paly (7-1-2, 4-0-2) the league title and a berth into the Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division playoffs.

"I didn't think anyone would go undefeated [in league], but we did," Paly head coach Earl Hansen said. "I mean, we really had some seniors that just played their hearts out."

Strong defensive play from both teams kept the game scoreless until Paly got the ball late in the first half. After the offense stalled, the Vikings punted to Wilcox returner Jordan Gibson ('10) who ran for 73 yards to the end zone. However, a running into the punter penalty gave Paly a first down on the Wilcox 38 yard-line.

After a sack, a 15-yard pass from quarterback T.J Braff ('11) to tight-end Michael Cullen ('11) put the Vikings at the 34 yard-line. From there, Braff found wide-out Maurice Williams ('11) in the end zone, putting Paly ahead 7-0 with 49 seconds left in the half.

Braff was 10 for 16 and threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Just as the half appeared over, Charger running back Anthony Herrera ('10) broke loose for a 70-yard game-tying score. Paly defenders thought that Herrera was down before he reached the end zone.

Herrera, who had averaged 168 yards per contest coming into the game, finished the night with 217 yards on 31 carries and two scores.

"We did everything we could to stop [Herrera] in the first half, but he managed to sneak away," Hansen said.

Gracie Marshall

Wide receiver Davante Adams ('11) evades several tackles on a 36 yard touchdown run. Adams finished with two scores on the night.

The game remained deadlocked until the Vikings took over on their own 29 yard-line early in the fourth quarter. Paly moved the ball efficiently downfield with Braff completing his third pass of the drive to wide-out Davante Adams ('11) who dodged defenders en route to a 36-yard touchdown.

"When I caught it, I saw the [defender] so I took a loop into the middle of the field and got some good blocking," Adams said.

The ensuing Wilcox drive started on the Charger 14 yard-line. The 16-play, 86-yard drive swallowed up nearly all of the remaining eight minutes of the fourth quarter. Wilcox finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown dive on fourth and goal by Herrera. Midway through the drive the Chargers picked up 32 yards on a half-back pass from Herrera.

Instead of going for the win on a two point conversion, the Chargers settled for a tie with an extra-point.

"I didn't want to see us go down, score and feel like losers if we didn't get the two-point conversion," Wilcox head coach Woody Freitas said.

Just before overtime, the announcer announced that Milpitas High School had beaten Los Gatos High School 20-19, confirming Paly's league title.

"We were really pumped up," Paly running back Miles Anderson ('11) said. "We felt cheated out of a win in regulation."

Paly won the overtime on a fourth-down pass from Braff to Adams.

Hansen commented on playing in the CCS Open Division.

"I don't care who we play, we made it in," he said.

Fourth-seeded Paly will play Bellarmine College Prep this Friday at 7:00 p.m. at home in its first round game.