By the time Daily Journal Athlete of the Week Cort Halsey caught his first pass in the Central Coast Section Division III championship game, he had already made his presence felt in the Menlo Knights’ historic victory.
Sure, Halsey’s first reception was on Menlo’s first possession, a 42-yard scoring haul that saw him turn a short route over the middle into a tackle-breaking touchdown. Yet, Halsey, also a middle linebacker, announced his presence in Saturday’s 42-6 CCS Division III championship win over Hollister as the Haybalers attempted to make something out of the game’s first possession. On third-and-8 from the Hollister 22, Halsey blitzed the backfield untouched to blow up quarterback Carlos Galvez, who avoided the sack by hurrying a pass to the vacated flat.
No doubt, Halsey was a force this season, leading the Knights with 846 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches, both team highs. And he saved one of his best games for Saturday’s, totaling 141 yards on a career-high 10 catches. As a middle linebacker, though, he has been just as good, leading Menlo in tackles, hurries and tackles for a loss this season.
“He’s our most consistent player,” Menlo senior lineman Ralston Raphael said. “He’s always on both sides working hard every single play. He’s the backbone of the team.”
Halsey was a man on a mission after Menlo fell short of a CCS championship last season. The Knights had never previously won a CCS title, but 2021 was looking like the year, with now-graduated quarterback Sergio Beltran at the helm of a merciless offense. Beltran set the CCS single-season record with 52 touchdown passes, and the Knights won 12 straight games, claiming the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division championship and advancing to the CCS Division II championship game.
Then Menlo ran into Wilcox, and the Chargers ruined the perfect season and the bid for the elusive first CCS title, serving the Knights with a taste of their own medicine in a 54-20 championship game drubbing.
“First thing I thought of was just looking at the scoreboard after Wilcox last year,” Halsey said. “Just that horrible loss and feeling like we couldn’t do anything and giving up at halftime. And, you know, that was our motivation this whole entire year. … We’ve got a special group of guys. We went through some adversity early on in the season, but we’re really catching our stride now. And I’m just proud to make the Menlo players in front of us proud as well.”
Following the 2021 season, Halsey had plenty of reasons to take his mind of football. A three-sport athlete, he was a valued sixth man on the boys’ basketball team, and played a starting role for boys’ lacrosse. But in certain respects, he never took his eye off the gridiron prize.
“To be honest … ever since I’ve gotten into football, I’ve always viewed other sports as like training for football, just like cross training,” Halsey said. “So, it was really on my mind the whole time.”
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The 2022 season was a grind. It took some time for senior quarterback Jake Bianchi to get his feet on the ground. And Menlo took some lumps moving up to the PAL Bay Division, settling for a 2-3 record, good for a fourth-place tie in the six-team league.
By the third and final week of the CCS playoffs, however, Menlo was the only PAL team left standing. And this was in large part to many two-way players — Ty Richardson, the Knights’ leading rusher and second in tackles; Charlie King, second in receiving and fourth in tackles; Brady Jung, fourth in receiving and fifth in tackles; and Robbie Enright, fifth in receiving and seventh in tackles.
“I feel like that’s been a Menlo staple for the whole time for as long as I’ve known,” Halsey said. “Before the JV guys came up, we had a 21-, 22-man roster and it was just the next-man up mentality. We’ve got like seven or eight two-way players. … That’s just part of our culture here.”
Now, third-year head coach Todd Smith, with a career record of 23-7, has cultivated the winningest culture in recent history. That’s saying something, seeing Menlo reached the CCS title game four times in program history prior to his arrival. Last season was Menlo’s fifth championship appearance.
This season marked the program’s first CCS title, but the Knights had to get through a Hollister team looking for payback to do it. The two teams met in the Division II semifinals last season, with Menlo winning a 45-35 barnburner.
“We knew that they’d be gunning for us,” Halsey said.
But the senior set the tone on the third play from scrimmage. Menlo went on to outgain Hollister 443-106 in total yards. And on a Menlo team that featured plenty of heroics, Halsey was — as Raphael put it — the “backbone” of the historic win.
“He played amazing,” Raphael said. “He’s a great tackler in open space. He just drives his feet and he finishes the play always. And he’s a really hard worker.”
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