Menlo digs in to top TKA in CCS football playoff opener

It’s a good thing he did as those gloves didn’t have any interceptions in them. But the pair of gloves he borrowed from a teammate did, as the senior produced his only score of the day on a late pick-6 to put a 17-7 victory over No. 5 King’s Academy on ice.

“I took these (gloves) off one of my selfless teammates, and I don’t think I would have caught it without those,” Van der Pyl said.

Muddied Cartan Stadium, as the only natural grass high school field remaining in San Mateo County, was ripe for a battle of defenses. And the war of attrition saw the two teams combine for under 500 total yards of offense, with TKA outgaining Menlo 256-235.

“Definitely muddy, definitely hard,” Menlo senior Chuck Wynn said. “But [head coach Todd Smith] emphasizes that we’ve got to be men out here, and just want it, keep competing. We’re like soldiers on our muddy battlefield.”

Still, TKA caught a big break with just under five minutes to play and Menlo (9-2) driving toward the end zone. With Menlo leading 10-7, Wynn found himself wide open on a wheel route, only to have quarterback Jack Freehill’s pass bobble off his fingertips and into the hands of TKA junior cornerback Aaron Duncan, breathing new life into the visiting team’s sideline.

“Obviously, when we get the ball on offense, we feel like we’ve got a shot,” TKA head coach Dante Perez said. “We had an opportunity, especially with the guys which we had. And we did. We drove all the way down and we got the look that we wanted.”

After sophomore quarterback Ricky Gutierrez converted on third down with a 22-yard pass to Turner, followed by a 23-yard pass to three-star wide receiver Jaiden Flores — with the 6-6 junior out-leaping two defenders along the sideline — TKA was sitting pretty in Menlo territory.

But two plays later, Gutierrez rushed a post pass over the middle of the field, where Van der Pyl was waiting over the top with his borrowed receiver gloves to haul in the interception, and return it 74 yards for the first pick-6 of his varsity career.

“[Flores] is their guy, so obviously I had to drop under him, and I saw the sideline open, and whenever I see the sideline open, I’m going to give it my best shot to get in the end zone,” Van der Pyl said. “That’s what I did. Shoutout to No. 52, Palmer Riley, running down there blocking for me. He thinks he’s faster than me. I don’t know about that, but I won’t complain if he’s blocking for me.”

It was a big day for Flores, who totaled five catches for 136 yards, including a 52-yard scoring haul early in the second quarter on a picturesque fly route up the right side to give TKA a 7-3 lead — an early statement coming on the first play from scrimmage following Menlo senior Dylan O’Malley’s 27-yard field goal.

But it was an even bigger day for Menlo’s two-way lineman Riley, a three-star edge rusher and Vanderbilt commit, who was breathing down Gutierrez’s neck all day. Not only did Riley total four batted passes on the day, he did so working consistently out of a three-man defensive front, while drawing regular double teams.

“We give him and our backside rush ... we give the some flexibility on their pass rush lanes, and it allows us to cover down,” Smith said. “Obviously [Flores] was a problem for us today, so we had to start manipulating our coverages off of that. So, Palmer influenced that guy getting rid of the ball a little sooner than he wanted to.”

Pulling double duty at offensive guard, Riley helped protect Freehill as the senior quarterback softened up the TKA secondary in the closing minute of the first half.

TKA (9-2) held Menlo to 46 rushing yards, including the freewheeling Freehill totaling 16 carries for a net 1 yard, including two TKA sacks. But with Menlo taking over at its own 28-yard line with 1:18 to go in the first half, the dual-threat QB hit Van der Pyl on back-to-back curl routes of 12 and 27 yards to advance into enemy territory.

“We were definitely struggling,” Van der Pyl said. “That two-minute drill really kicked us into gear for the rest of the game. I definitely got it going.”

Freehill completed two move quick passes, an 8-yard yarder to Wynn and a 20-yarder to sophomore Drew Housser, to the TKA 4-yard line before spiking the first-down snap with 20 seconds on the clock. After two incompletions, Menlo rolled the dice on fourth-and-goal, and Freehill cashed in with a screen pass underneath to Wynn, who slammed into the end zone as time expired to send Menlo into the half leading 10-7.

In the third quarter, the Menlo defense dug in its heels, forcing a punt on the first series of the half, despite TKA advancing to Menlo’s 35.

TKA’s second possession ended in the third-down interception by Housser. TKA would punt once more before Menlo sustained a drive for 4 minutes, 56 seconds, thanks largely to Wynn converting on fourth-and-3 by rushing for 7 yards on a fake punt — right before TKA ultimately took the ball back on Duncan’s interception in the red zone with 4:23 to play.

“We do it every week,” Wynn said. “That’s our go-to play. Every single week, we run at least one or two fakes. ... Even the defense said it was coming, and they still can’t stop it.”

TKA was without 6-5 junior Adrian Barnett, who was leading the team in receiving yards when he was injured in Week 8 against Mountain View.

“When you’ve got a guy like that ... he’s just done a phenomenal job for our team,” Perez said. “And that’s another threat that you have to worry about that’s on the field. But you can’t make excuses. ... We made more mistakes than them; let’s put it that way. You can’t do that in the playoffs.”

TKA was levied with three pass interference penalties in the game. Menlo was flagged for two PIs. Gutierrez was 12-of-25 for 211 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Freehill was 16-of-25 for 186 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The win marks Menlo’s seventh straight in head-to-head play with TKA dating back to 2016. Three of those wins have come in CCS playoff games, including 2016 and ’22.

“It means everything because us seniors have been working for this for four years,” Wynn said. “Some of us beat King’s freshman year in playoffs. So, to do it again senior year ... it’s just awesome.”

Menlo now travels to face No. 1 St. Ignatius in the CCS semifinals. Friday’s kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.