It was a matchup of contrasting offensive styles at Cartan Field in Atherton on Saturday afternoon, with Menlo and its spread attack facing San Mateo’s triple option.
The Bearcats’ system, which hardly ever involves putting the ball in the air, relies on misdirection and sustained, methodical drives. That makes it difficult for a team like San Mateo to come back from a multi-score deficit — especially with the Knights’ offense firing on all cylinders.
Menlo quarterback Jack Freehill accounted for five total touchdowns and the Knights scored on all four of their second-half possessions to earn a 42-28 victory and improve to 2-0.
“We just have a lot of good athletes,” said Freehill, a senior committed to play baseball at Columbia University. “We don’t have that many guys, but everyone contributes and everyone is a good athlete. When we have coaches see stuff and we see stuff that we like, just trust our athletes and get the ball to them.”
The Bearcats (1-1) had thrown just one pass — which was intercepted — in their season-opening shutout win over Los Altos. They started this game by driving nearly to the goal line, taking up more than half the first quarter in 12 plays, but Menlo’s defense came up with a stop on fourth down to keep things scoreless.
The Knights then hit on the first of many explosive plays as Freehill found Trevor van der Pyl on a deep ball down the left sideline for 37 yards. That helped lead to the first of Freehill’s four touchdown runs, a walk-in on fourth-and-goal at the 1, to put Menlo in front.
Freehill completed eight of 11 passes for 201 yards, good for more than 25 yards per completion. Van der Pyl had five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, coming wide open on play action for a 56-yard score in the third quarter.
Menlo also averaged more than seven yards per play on the ground, with Freehill rushing for 109 yards on 16 carries and four scores. Running back Chuck Wynn found daylight for a 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Knights the lead for good.
“(Freehill) is great. He’s a competitor,” Knights head coach Todd Smith said.. “He’s smart, and people respond to him. He knows what we’re doing.”
In San Mateo’s version of the triple option, quarterback Lukas Fitzgerald could either hand the ball off to fullback Jovani Hernandez Cruz, pull it out and keep it himself, or pitch it out to a halfback, with Cameron Barry and Tyce Copus alternating in that role. The Bearcats rushed for more than 300 yards with Fitzgerald tallying 106 on 17 carries, including a game-tying 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Even with San Mateo’s defense unable to get a stop in the second half, the Bearcats hung around, with Copus scoring twice and Fitzgerald connecting on a deep pass to Hamilton Pitney for a touchdown in the final minute. But in the end, Menlo was too efficient and too effective.
San Mateo hosts a 2-0 Aragon team this week, while the Knights hit the road for the first time Friday night to face Branham.
“It’s really good to see everyone fight adversity and come through with a big win,” Freehill said. “(San Mateo) is a really good team. They ran the ball really well, they burned a lot of time. We knew it would be a tough one, so we had to grind it out.”
Burlingame controls the line of scrimmage in win at Palo Alto
A special teams spark just before halftime gave Burlingame the jolt it needed as the Panthers ultimately cruised past Palo Alto, 35-14, to pick up their first win of the season on Thursday night.
Following 14 unanswered Vikings points to tie the game, sophomore Luke Doss returned a kickoff into Palo Alto territory in the final minute of the second quarter. Burlingame (1-1) capitalized on the good field position, getting a 30-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Nick Armstrong to his brother Will Armstrong to set up a 3-yard scoring pass between the duo on the next play.
The Panthers dominated on the defensive line in the second half to hold the Vikings scoreless the rest of the way. Palo Alto managed just 51 rushing yards on 22 carries, and quarterback Justin Fung was under heavy pressure over the final two quarters.
“I wouldn’t have done anything if it wasn’t for the rest of my defense,” said defensive end Quincy Yu, who recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter. “Our (defensive backs’) coverage was amazing, our defensive tackles, our other defensive end were absolutely phenomenal during that game.”
Burlingame’s offensive line excelled in run blocking as well, paving the way for a 342-yard rushing performance on 7.4 yards per carry. Fullback Hayden Haba brought the power with 126 yards and three touchdowns, while Harrison Evars kept finding holes outside the tackle box and rushed for 123 yards on 12 carries with a late touchdown of his own.
The Panthers bounced back from an opening-week overtime loss to Half Moon Bay, taking down a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division team on the road in Week 2. They return home Friday against Arroyo, while Palo Alto (0-2) heads down to Gilroy to battle Christopher.
“We were getting a good push on them. We were reestablishing the line of scrimmage,” Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos said. “Our kids were getting off the ball. Their pads were low, we were playing to the whistle, finishing our blocks. Our kids, they were asking for it. They wanted it. They wanted us to run the ball, and our backs were running really hard as well.”
WCAL Roundup: Mitty, SI earn big wins; Valley Christian, Serra fall
Archbishop Mitty rebounded from a loss to East Bay powerhouse Acalanes by picking up a 33-20 win over Wilcox, the defending PAL-Bay champions, on Friday night. Joseph Engin was 15-of-19 passing for 224 yards and three touchdowns, while Lazaro Faraj-Washington rushed for 153 yards and two scores.
Valley Christian, meanwhile, fell victim to one of the Central Coast Section’s best home environments in a 38-29 loss at Salinas. Ekiah McLemore rushed for four touchdowns in the losing effort for the Warriors.
Elsewhere, McClymonds edged Saint Francis 14-10 in Oakland. Riordan and Sacred Heart Cathedral both cruised to blowout road wins, while Bellarmine lost 42-7 at Jesuit in the Sacramento area.
In Saturday’s action, St. Ignatius rolled at Tamalpais, 49-0, to give head coach JaJuan Johnson his first win as Luke Tribolet had three first-half rushing touchdowns for the Wildcats. Serra is now 0-2 after back-to-back home losses against two of the best teams in Northern California, with De La Salle cruising past the Padres 26-0 on Saturday afternoon.
