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Brody Simison was always in the right place at the right time. Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021 by Karen Ambrose Hickey. -
Danny Peters scored on the final play of the first half. Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021 by Karen Ambrose Hickey. -
Yes, Ja’meer Cooper came down with this 53-yard pass. Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021 by Karen Ambrose Hickey. -
Tobey Lau delivered a sack in his first game action since the second week of September. Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021 by Karen Ambrose Hickey.
How often do you see a football player get congratulated for getting slammed into the turf, in his own zone?
Once it was clear Palo Alto sophomore punter-kicker Gerardo Becerra suffered no permanent damage after such an incident Friday night, his teammates rushed over to help celebrate the 15-yard penalty that went with the infraction, helping the Vikings retain possession of the ball at a key moment in the fourth quarter.
“They think it’s something big,” Becerra said after Palo Alto beat Milpitas 20-17 to secure a spot in the upcoming Central Coast Section football playoffs. “They do it every game when it happens. It’s really just about keeping the momentum going.”
Palo Alto (5-4, 3-2) was forced to punt moments after having a long touchdown pass called back because of a penalty. Milpitas would have taken over at midfield with about four minutes remaining to play and Paly clinging to its three-point advantage.
“We scrapped and clawed and found a way to grind through it,” Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford said. “We didn’t play our best football but you saw guys battling to pull it out.”
Palo Alto grabbed one of the four automatic bids into CCS given to the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division and will join league champion Los Gatos, Wilcox and Homestead, which lost to Wilcox 42-7 on Friday.
The Vikings, currently alone in third place, travel to play at Wilcox (5-4, 4-1) with a chance to move into a second-place tie next Friday night while Milpitas (3-6, 2-3) plays Los Gatos (9-0, 5-0), which beat Mountain View 56-7 on Thursday night.
Palo Alto’s victory was just an extension to a season that has seen the Vikings knocked down more than once only to have them get off the ground and continue to compete at full tilt.
“We’ve had a challenging year with injuries,” Gifford said. “But other guys are coming in and playing well.”
One example of that is freshman Ja’meer Cooper, who was brought up from the junior varsity because of a shortage of wide receivers. All he did Friday was catch a 53-yard pass from Danny Peters in double coverage, setting up the touchdown that put Palo Alto ahead to stay at 13-7 — a 1-yard run by Peters as time expired in the first half.
Junior Amani Elfadil returned to the lineup for the first time since the second week of the season. He put the game on ice with an interception in the final minute.
“I knew they would be throwing deep on the outside,” Elfadil said. “I told the safety to stay inside. All I wanted to do was pick up a few yards and step out of bounds so I wouldn’t fumble the ball.”
Junior outside linebacker Tobey Lau also returned to action after sitting out with an injury. His contribution was a key sack that forced Milpitas to throw deep late in the game.
Peters completed 15 of 20 passes for 165 yards, including a 7-yard scoring toss to junior Tommy Butler, who wrestled the ball away from his defender as he fell into the end zone. Butler caught seven passes for 45 yards.
Peters, who also rushed for a pair of scores, seemed to be at his best on critical third- and fourth-down plays. At one point he completed a pass to Lucas Black just as he was getting hit.
“I knew he’d be in the shallow route and even before the snap I knew I would be going to him,” Peters said. “I got hit and I saw Lucas come open and got him the ball.”
Senior defensive end Sawyer McFarland detected a pattern from one of Milpitas linemen and it helped slow the Milpitas running attack.
“When he did the thing we knew it was going to be a run,” McFarland said. “We were hitting the right gaps. Sometimes I was able to get into the backfield before anyone noticed.”
And then there’s Brody Simison, who does so many little things that go unnoticed outside of his teammates. The senior doesn’t know any other way to play the game other than full speed. His football intelligence is off the charts. He puts himself in position to make plays in every facet of the game.
“It’s bizarre how he plays,” Gifford said. “He’s stitched together with glue and duct tape and the guy should not be playing the way he does. But any time a play is needed, there he is. It’s remarkable.”
“You just see him working so hard to get healthy,” Peters said. “He loves the game, loves the team and cares about it as a family. He’s so passionate and brings great leadership to the team.”
