Menlo earns first CCS football championship in program history

No. 3-seed Menlo (8-5) made program history, playing a fast and furious brand of football in a 42-6 win over No. 5 Hollister (7-6). The Division III championship marks the first-ever CCS title for Menlo, and the first section crown since 1982 when the Knights won the North Coast Section championship.

“We had a Thanksgiving week of practice … we had five two-and-a-half hour practices with a defensive emphasis,” said Cort Halsey, Menlo’s two-way standout who helped set the tone for the Knights’ defensive shutout. The only points the Haybalers scored was on a 97-yard kickoff return last in the third quarter with the game already out of reach.

“The whole time, our coaches were barking: ‘These guys are going to want to put you in a phone booth and check your chin and see what you guys are made of,’” Halsey said. “So, we came out with that mentality.”

Menlo played a perfect first quarter both sides of the ball. Hollister had three possessions in the opening period, all three-and-outs.

Halsey and senior defensive end Alec Jabal set the tone on a statement series to open the game. Jabal delivered a loud hit at the line of scrimmage on first down. Then on third down, Hollister quarterback Carlos Galvez got rid of a pass to avoid a sack just as Halsey leveled him in the pocket to force the Haybalers to punt.

“It’s something we stressed all week in practice given last week,” Jabal said. “We had a huge comeback against Live Oak (in the CCS semifinals). We saw the second half that we could play. So, we brought it to them (in the) first half today. It was just about coming out fighting, coming out swinging.”

Then Menlo’s high-octane intensity rolled over to the offensive side of the ball. Senior quarterback Jake Bianchi got the offense moving on what was destined to be a big night. The Knights went on to outgain Hollister 443-106 in total offensive yards.

“What’s been so neat about tonight was we have not played good on both sides of the ball all season,” Menlo head coach Todd Smith said. “That was the first time all season we picked to play good on both sides of the ball.”

The Knights took over for their first possession at their own 41 on and managed to turn up the heat. After two short bubble screens, Bianchi solved third-and-7 with a 16-yard completion to Robby Enright to push a first down across midfield. Two plays later, Halsey got open for a short strike, and Menlo’s playmaking tight end broke a tackle, turned the corner and blazed 42 yards for a touchdown, putting the Knights up 7-0.

Menlo took possession late in the first quarter and went on another quick march, this time turning to the ground attack. Senior running back Ty Richardson totaled 13 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns on the night, and put the capper on a seven-play, 73-yard drive with two consecutive runs — a 17-yard pickup into the red zone followed by a 9-yard score to make it 14-0.

The one-two punch of air and ground worked again in the third quarter. Enright made an 11-yard scoring catch less than three minutes into the second half. Enright then made his presence felt on defense a minute later, intercepting a Galvez pass to the Hollister 30. On the next play, Richardson broke a 30-yard score — emerging from a cluster of tacklers at the line of scrimmage — to make it 28-0.

The yards after contact were consistent for Menlo all night long.

“We’ve always been a little smaller in the trenches,” Halsey said. “We still get it done. But we really get our money’s worth out in space so we can get some guys moving.”

Bianchi completed 14 of his first 15 passes and finished 21 for 28 with 294 yards and two touchdown throws. The 6-5 senior eluded blitzers for most of the night, taking some punishing hits — including two that resulted in some pushing and shoving, and wars of words between the two teams, that ultimately led to several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and the ejection of a Hollister player.

“He’s played the whole season on two bum ankles, and I just get so much more respect for him every game,” Halsey said. “Even though if you look at him, you don’t think he’s the most speedy guy, he always can make a play out of nothing, and roll around and make something happen, and deliver a good ball under pressure. And I’m just grateful to have him as my quarterback.”

Bianchi’s most prolific target was Halsey, who is addition to a monster game out of the middle linebacker position, totaled 10 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. He added a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter on a trick play that saw him line up at the slot, go in motion, then quickly set himself in the wildcat formation to take a direct snap for a quarterback sneak.

Menlo junior Brady Jung closed out the scoring with a 30-yard TD reception early in the fourth quarter. The remainder of the game was played to a running clock.

This marks the second straight year Menlo has appeared in the CCS finals. Last year, after knocking off Hollister in the semifinals, the Knights fell 54-20 to Wilcox in the Division II championship game.

“It means everything, it really does,” Smith said of this year’s title. “We had a really good football team last year and we came up short. It really stung. We had a really good football team.”

Menlo now advances to the CIF Division 4-A State Football Championship Bowl tournament. The Knights will travel to Novato to play host San Marin in the Northern California regional finals this Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner advances to the Division 4-A State Championship Bowl slated for Saturday, Dec. 10.

“It’s just an honor to do this for our coaches and for our family,” Jabal said. “They stood by us the whole way. Our coaches spend hours a day. And this is it paying off right in front of us.”