Sports
FOOTBALL: Trojans Lose Finale To Vikings
Milpitas finishes the season with a 62-35 loss to Palo Alto, and most wait eagerly until Sunday to find out their playoff opponent.
The football team dropped its final game of the regular season 62-35 against Palo Alto High on Thursday night at home.
The Trojans had trouble finding their rhythm against the first-place Vikings, who were coming off a 74-point performance against Los Altos last week.
Palo Alto wasted no time getting its offensive in gear as the Vikings jumped to a quick 21-0 lead, putting the Trojans behind early.
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“We came out slow tonight. Really slow,” said senior quarterback Tony Sauceda after the game. “We got down early and we just put our heads down.”
Milpitas battled back in the second quarter, scoring 21 points with touchdowns by seniors Brandon Colbert, Sammy Fanua, and Jordan Lockett, but could not keep up with the potent Palo Alto offense, and headed into halftime down 35-21.
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“I don’t know what happened tonight,” Fanua said. “I wish I did so I could go yell at people and we could fix it. But I don’t. Our offense just needs to step it up.”
The Vikings' running game continued to cause problems for the Trojans in the second half as Palo Alto pounded its way through a tired-looking Milpitas’ squad. Paly tacked on four rushing touchdowns in the final half, with scoring runs by Jayshawn Gates-Mouton, Dre Hill, and Morris Gates-Mouton.
While Milpitas showed sparks of life with touchdowns by RJ Rimando and Rodney McKenzie, the team could not fight its way back from such a big deficit.
With the loss, the Trojans finish the season 7-3 overall and 4-3 in league play, and must wait until Sunday to find out whom they will be facing in the playoffs next week.
The Trojans head into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak, but remain confident that the team can excel in the postseason.
“We need to get back to the way we were playing early in the season,” Fanua said. “We just need to head into the playoffs with a fresh start and pretend like these two games never happened.”
After the game, Sauceda said his team can’t have the same mental attitude that it did on Thursday if the team wants to reach its goal of a championship. The veteran quarterback said the Trojans must regain their focus for next week.
“We need to learn that we can’t act like that in the playoffs,” Sauceda said. “It’s do-or-die now. No second chances. We can’t sit on the sidelines with our heads down. We need to work hard at practice starting Monday, and play hard.”
