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Palo Alto was brought down to earth in a 39-18 setback at Homestead on Friday evening. The Vikings (3-3, 1-1 SCVAL De Anza Division) were coming off a 63-13 win over Santa Clara, their third consecutive win.
“We were riding our momentum,” Paly quarterback Danny Peters said. “We weren’t disciplined on both sides of the line. We expected to do better and may have taken Homestead lightly.”
“Homestead played well,” Paly coach Nelson Gifford said. “They blocked well and did a great job. We prepared for them, just like we do all of our opponents. We didn’t do a good enough job. We have to own that as coaches.”
Homestead (3-2, 1-0 SCVAL De Anza) rode the swift legs of senior running back Derek Sheerer, who rushed for a career-best 225 yards on just 14 carries. Sheerer had touchdown runs of 43, 66 and 8 yards. Sheerer is the grandson of former Stanford Olympic water polo player Gary Sheerer, an alum of since-closed Awalt High (Mountain View), class of ’64.
“I thought the game was going to be tougher,” Sheerer said. “Our offensive line has been working hard,”
Paly started off with a sack by Orasio Becerra on Homestead’s first series. Paly, though, had trouble running the ball the entire game, netting just 87 yards on the ground.
Homestead scored first on a controversial play. Hard-running back Zachary Acton took the ball on a fourth-and-one from Paly’s 5-yard line. It appeared Acton’s forward progress was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but no whistle was blown.
The ball popped loose into the arms of tackle Jomar Abalos, who ran it into the end zone for a 6-yard TD. The Paly bench erupted, especially after the officiating crew ruled the play a touchdown after discussing the matter.
Down 12-0, Peters found Brody Simison for a 28-yard gain. Six plays later, Peters tossed a bubble-screen to Simison, who followed his blocking, taking the ball in for a 25-yard score with 7:23 to go in the half.
Simison had five catches for 113 yards and caught a tipped pass while sitting on the ground for 27 yards.
That set up a 30-yard field goal by Gerardo Becerra, giving the Vikings momentum heading into intermission.
The 6-foot-5, 232-pound Peters proved tough in the pocket, rushing for 55 yards, completing 18-of-39 for 215 yards. Two of his passes were picked off, one by Sheerer at the Homestead goal line, another by Ryan Markley, who ran it back 57 yards for a score. Peters had a 65-yard touchdown run called back due to a penalty.
“Peters battles every game,” Gifford said. “He’s a strong gamer, plays hard and goes for it. He’s mentally strong. Even if he’s struggling, he’s going to go out and play as hard as he can.”
Charlie Hoke ran it in from 7 yards out for the Vikings’ second TD of the night, coming with 1:49 remaining. Hoke ran for two-point conversion, for good measure.
Playing a fine defensive game for Paly was Alex Born, who garnered an interception, returning it 57 yards late in the third quarter. With the ball at the Homestead 14, Paly couldn’t take advantage, turning it over on downs after an incomplete pass on 4th-and-6.
Born made some fine tackles from his outside linebacker position.
“Alex (Born) played extremely well on defense,” Gifford said. “He has played well throughout the season.”
It was the varsity debut of freshman Ja’meer Cooper, who had a couple of worthy kickoff returns to go with a pair of receptions for 13 yards. The speedy Cooper even got some time in the secondary, getting in on a couple of tackles.
“For the first varsity action, Ja’meer was pretty impressive,” Gifford said.
Paly has a bye week before returning to league play.
“We are going to take this game personally,” Peters said. “We need to work hard during the bye week and come back strong.”
