ATHERTON, Calif - The King’s Academy put up at least 35 points eight times in the regular season, and a quick glance at TKA’s skill position players makes it easy to see why.
The Knights have a strong-armed sophomore, Ricky Gutierrez, at quarterback, and he was blessed all year with the dynamic trio of Jaiden Flores, Aaron Duncan and Adrian Barnett at wide receiver. TKA also had a balanced rushing attack, with Drew Martinez, Justin Turner and Jonathan Carrillo Contreras all capable of breaking off big chunk plays.
But TKA met its match Saturday afternoon at a muddy Cartan Field in the form of another blue-and-gold-clad Knights team. Outside of one explosive connection between Gutierrez and Flores, Menlo held TKA’s offense completely in check in a 17-7 victory to advance to the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals.
“(The defense) definitely saved us,” Menlo quarterback Jack Freehill said. “We were struggling on offense, but we’re all good, and our defense came up clutch. Trevor (van der Pyl) just making plays for us, that’s really the reason we won.”
No. 4 seed Menlo (9-2) led by just three points late in the fourth quarter, and No. 5 seed TKA (9-2) was in plus territory, with Gutierrez looking to Flores for just about all of his deep shots as Barnett was unable to suit up Saturday.
Gutierrez went up over the top again on a second-and-10 at the Menlo 44-yard line, but van der Pyl, Menlo’s top wide receiver and a stalwart defensive back as well, high-pointed the ball and came down with the interception. He then used his speed to reach the sideline and race 85 yards the other way for a pick six that essentially sealed the game.
“I didn’t think he was going to get away from everyone, and then once he started running, I knew he was gone,” Freehill said. “They were driving down our field. We were only up by three. We knew they were going to go to (Flores), he’s a great player. Trevor just made a great play.”
Both teams struggled to find their footing early — literally — with most of the grass between the hash marks covered in dirt.
Menlo used a 13-play, 88-yard drive to get on the board early in the second quarter with a 27-yard Dylan O’Malley field goal, but TKA struck back immediately after Jayden Kwan returned the kickoff nearly to midfield. Gutierrez found Flores in single coverage down the right sideline, and the 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver hauled in the pass in stride for a 52-yard touchdown.
“He gave us issues,” Menlo coach Todd Smith said of Flores, who had five catches for 138 yards and that touchdown. “Our coverage stuff was getting manipulated toward him, and he had a big day, especially in the first half. But I was proud of our kids. Our kids hung in there.”
The Menlo defense turned TKA in the red zone late in the half when Merrick Ward recovered a fumbled snap, giving the hosts a chance at a two-minute drill. Freehill and the offense executed it nearly flawlessly, with short passes to van der Pyl and Drew Housser turning into chunk plays with yards after the catch.
Smith kept his offense on the field for a fourth down at the TKA 4-yard line with two seconds left, and Freehill connected with running back Chuck Wynn at the goal line for Menlo’s only offensive touchdown of the day.
“It’s playoff football. Everything is on the line. Everyone’s playing hard,” said Freehill, who missed the regular-season finale against Sacred Heart Prep but was 16-of-25 passing for 180 yards and a touchdown Saturday. “In games like this, you just need to find a way to win. Stats don’t matter. It doesn’t matter what the score is. It’s just finding a way to win and move on and play another week.”
Menlo proceeded to pitch a second-half shutout, with Housser and van der Pyl both recording interceptions. Vanderbilt commit Palmer Riley knocked down four Gutierrez passes at the line of scrimmage, showing he can make a big impact up front even when TKA was double-teaming him.
“I was getting doubled a lot and I was also inside. It’s hard to split a double inside,” Riley said. “Instead of working too far upfield, I would recognize when it was a quick pass, just get my hands up there and use my length.”
Next up for Menlo is a trip to San Francisco and a date with top-seeded St. Ignatius on Friday night. The Wildcats routed Alisal 49-7 in their first-round game.
“What our kids are doing a great job of, and our coaches, is we’re staying together through the tough times,” Smith said. “We don’t turn on each other, we’re not pointing fingers, we’re in this together. If our offense isn’t playing great, then our defense is going to step up, and vice versa.”
“Competitive equity” yields close games across the board
With the CCS placing its top eight teams in the Open/Division I bracket, the next eight in Division II, and so on — regardless of school enrollment — all five divisions should, in theory, feature games between evenly-matched teams. And that was certainly how things played out in this opening round.
No. 8 seed San Mateo beat No. 1 seed and previously undefeated Woodside in overtime in the Division III bracket. In Division IV, No. 8 Christopher took No. 1 Branham down to the wire, with the Bruins escaping by one point after successfully defending a late two-point conversion attempt. Eight of Friday night’s 15 games were decided by one score, highlighted by No. 7 seed Sacred Heart Prep winning a 49-48 shootout over No. 2 seed Carmel in Division III.
In other notable results, No. 3 seed Los Gatos used a late goal-line stand to get past No. 6 seed Saint Francis in the Division I quarterfinals, as the section’s top public school team once again took out a West Catholic Athletic League heavyweight. The Wildcats will face Palma, which defeated Soquel for the second time in three weeks, in next week’s semifinals.
Riordan and Serra both won with relative ease in the Open Division on Saturday afternoon over Salinas and Mitty, respectively, so the No. 1 seed Crusaders and No. 2 seed Padres will do battle once again for the Open title on Friday night at San Jose City College. Riordan’s 42-35 win at Serra gave the Crusaders the WCAL title in the final week of the regular season.
