Pop Warner football: Vikings bow out of Peninsula Conference playoffs Pop Warner football: Vikings bow out of Peninsula Conference playoffs (November 09, 2005)

A single yard and a couple of critical second-half plays stood between the Menlo-Atherton Vikings and the conference championship game on Sunday, November 6, as the Vikings Junior Pee Wees' season came to a disappointing end.

The last Vikings team in the running for Peninsula Conference playoff honors, the Junior Pee Wees dropped a 7-0 heartbreaker to the highly regarded Morgan Hill Raiders team at Woodside High School.

Dominating the first half, the Vikings repeatedly surged into Raider territory, once reaching the Morgan Hill one-yard line before the offense stalled.

A 30-yard pass from Patrick Bruni to Ryan Gaertner highlighted a Viking drive before halftime, but once again the M-A attack fell short.

Bruni's relentless bursts off tackle kept the pressure on the Raiders throughout the game, but Morgan Hill pushed across a fourth-quarter touchdown to make the difference.

Although Bruni will move up to Pee Wee status next season, a nucleus of the current Junior Pee Wee team is expected to return for a concerted run at the conference title.

-- Report by Jim Gallagher of Vikings Boosters

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