By Scott Campbell

The scoreboard showed Los Altos High lost by three touchdowns. But it seemed everyone on the field knew that the Eagles had given mighty Palo Alto all it could handle well into the second half.

Though the Vikings emerged with a 35-14 victory over visiting Los Altos last Friday, the Eagles found they could compete with a potent SCVAL De Anza Division team.

After a first half marked by dueling offenses, Los Altos (4-2 overall) opened the second half by marching 72 yards to tie the game at 14 on quarterback Richard Rullo’s 25-yard pass to receiver Evan Nelson and Charlie Sines’ extra point. Los Altos’ first score also came on a Rullo-to-Nelson pass.

But the Eagles - co-leaders of the lower El Camino Division of the SCVAL - gained just one more first down in the game. Palo Alto, meanwhile, used its superior size and speed to post three unanswered touchdowns to pull away.

Nevertheless, Los Altos coach Erik Rutgers was pleased with what he saw from his squad.

“The caliber (of opponent) is what we wanted to see if we matched up with,” said Rutgers, who saw his team’s four-game winning streak snapped. “Those are some big, fast, strong, well-coached boys over there and they were coming right at us. We were playing ‘em step for step, but then their experience started taking over.”

Down 20-14 midway through the third quarter, Los Altos still had an opportunity to keep pace with Palo Alto (5-1). Nelson, doubling as a safety, intercepted Vikings quarterback Nick Goodspeed’s pass at the Eagles’ 1-yard line.

But a fired-up Palo Alto defense allowed only one yard on three plays, forcing the Eagles to punt from their end zone.

“It ended their drive, but … it put us in a tough spot,” Nelson said of his interception. “It kind of shifted the momentum.”

Palo Alto tailback Evan Warner’s 37-yard touchdown run on the next play and receiver Cooper Miller’s two-point conversion put the Vikings in control with a 28-14 lead with 2:20 left in the third.

Los Altos showed its power running attack could be effective even against a defense that had recorded shutouts against its previous two opponents. The Eagles piled up 124 rushing yards in the first half and 171 in the game. Eagles running back Jamar Watson gained 79 yards on 14 carries, while Nelson registered four receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns.

In a study of contrasting offenses, Palo Alto unleashed an aerial assault. Goodspeed completed 20 of 26 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns.

Though the Eagles drove 78 yards on their opening possession, they missed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Palo Alto rebuffed their daring fourth-and-3 attempt at the 7-yard line.

“I was playing the momentum and I wanted to go in for the six,” Rutgers said of the decision to pass up the chip-shot field goal. “I wanted to show them as well that we were here to play serious football.”

With what Rutgers termed a “measuring stick” under its belt, Los Altos visits Fremont of Sunnyvale at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a key El Camino Division contest. The Firebirds (3-0) and Eagles (2-0) share first place with Santa Clara (2-0).

Rullo issued a warning to Los Altos’ upcoming opponents: beware.

“We’re a good football team and I think people are starting to realize that,” said the senior, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. “We’ll keep this loss in mind going into the rest of league and take it out on them.”