The Bears defeated the Palo Alto Vikings on Homecoming and senior night, 27-13, solidifying their overall record at 6-2 and their league record of 2-1.
For the team’s seniors, this game was the last regular season game they would play at Coach Parks Field and an emotional end to four years of being part of the team.
M-A won the toss and chose to defer their possession to the second half.
As Paly started with the ball, their offense wasted no time driving down the field with multiple runs and passes that brought them knocking on the door of Bear territory.
M-A’s defense responded with an interception from senior cornerback Angelo Marin with 6:36 left in the quarter, giving M-A the ball.
Senior Xander Eschelman started the Bears’ first play by finding junior wide receiver JT Roeder, who ran into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.
Unfortunately, the Vikings blocked the Bears’ point-after-touchdown, only putting M-A up 6-0 with 6:30 left in the quarter.
Just minutes later, the Vikings responded with a touchdown of their own, but their point-after-touchdown was also blocked, leveling the score 6-6.
Roeder and Eschelman’s momentum was felt throughout the entire team and the Bears’ offense subsequently exploded. Eschelman found junior Teddy Dacey in the end zone with one minute left in the quarter, putting them back up 13-6.
Strong defense from both the Vikings and the Bears left most of the second quarter scoreless. Senior linebackers Anthony van der Meer, Devin Hyde, and William Roberts dominated the line of scrimmage with relentless blitzes and pass rushes.
The Vikings’ defense eventually let up, and with 1:34 left in the half, Eschelman found Marin, who ran crossfield to score his first touchdown of the game, increasing the Bears’ lead to 20-6 as the first half expired.
The Bears began the second half complacent: holes in M-A’s defense allowed the Paly kickoff returner to weave through and score, bringing them back in the game, 20-13.
The Bears immediately bounced back, and with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Dacey completed a pass to senior Josh Olsen, knifing deep into Palo Alto territory.
Twenty seconds later, junior running back Eva Ama ran the ball in for a touchdown, increasing the lead back to two touchdowns at 27-13.
During the second half, the Bears faced many setbacks, from unsportsmanlike conduct and neutral zone infraction flags to an injury that took Eschelman out for the remainder of the game.
“We need to work on our penalties. We had some stupid ones, and we just need to lock in on that,” Marin said.
Both the offense and defense pushed past the difficulties, with never-ending blitzes from the defense and clutch third-down conversions from the offense, finishing the game 27-13 with little contest.
“We played best in the third quarter. We really had to bounce back from all the mistakes we made, and it really showed in the third quarter and the remainder of the second half,” Ama said.
“We knew we had a target on our backs, scheduling them for our senior night and Homecoming, but we came out and got the dub,” Marin said.
This game means a lot to the entire team. For juniors and sophomores, it’s the last regular season home game they will ever play with the seniors on the team. Many seniors reflected on playing on senior night.
“It feels surreal, this being the last time I’m gonna be with my friends and teammates on Coach Parks Field. I love this sport too much,” van der Meer said.
“It feels unreal, like it came up on me too fast. I saw all the seniors every single year until now, and it just made me think ‘Man, time really flies,’ but I’m grateful for a win on our home field,” senior cornerback Kareem Franklin said.
The Bears will travel across the road to play Sacred Heart Preparatory next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
