Menlo football blanks Palo Alto

Menlo (3-1 overall) outgained Palo Alto 183-159 in total yards.

“I think special teams performed lights out,” said Brady Jung, the Menlo senior whose blocked punt resulted in 2 points on a first-half safety. “A punt block, we went crazy. And then a kickoff, kick return. We were just explosive out there. It was a lot of fun.”

Senior defensive end Avery Romain led the defense with two sacks and a batted pass, as the Knights dominated the Vikings’ offense. Questions surrounded Menlo’s defensive line with senior nose tackle Ralston Raphael out of action due to injury. Raphael is the captain of the line and has long been integral to the Knights’ pass rush establishing penetration.

“It changed a lot,” Romain said. “We had to prepare a lot more in practice knowing we didn’t have Ralston out there. … It was definitely a big loss, but we did good without him.”

Menlo retooled the pass rush to work off the edges. The Knights went on to hold Paly to seven first-downs on the day, with just one coming in the first half. The Vikings were 0 for 10 on third-down tries, and 0 for 2 on fourth-downs.

“This is one of [Romain’s] better performances,” Smith said. “We really challenged him today. With [Raphael] being out, I didn’t think we could draw double-teams inside. So, guys would have to pick up the slack, so to speak. So, we challenged Avery, we challenged guys like (defensive linemen) Aidan Zhou and Alec Jabal, who I also thought did a good job. And I thought they rose to the occasion.”

Romain would have had three sacks, but his manhandling of Paly quarterback Declan Packer late in the first quarter was ruled a hurry as Packer got an incomplete pass away just before he hit the ground. This didn’t stop Romain from celebrating with a big show of emotion. The senior said Menlo’s coaching staff was critical of his play earlier this season and challenged the 6-2, 240-pound edge rusher to up his game.

“Once I made that play, it made me want to go crazy, I guess,” Romain said. “Because of all that hard work paying off.”

Menlo’s offense got some traction on its second possession, taking over at its own 41-yard line and pushing it into field goal range for senior placekicker Ross Muchnick. The Knights’ biggest play came on fourth-and-2 from the Paly 39, as quarterback Jake Bianchi rushed to the line of scrimmage for a quick snap and a 7-yard keeper for a first down. A Paly offside penalty on third down prolonged the drive. And four plays later, Muchnick booted a 36-yard field goal to give Menlo a 3-0 lead.

Muchnick was also effective on kickoffs and punts, as the Knights’ special teams controlled field position throughout.

“Ross, he’s an animal out there,” Jung said. “He’s got a heavy leg, he can kick it really deep. It just really saves us in terms of kickoff. … That leg is incredible, getting field goals all the time. He’s really saving us out there on special teams.”

The defensive back-and-forth continued into the second quarter, but the leg of Muchnick again loomed large as his 47-yard punt stuck Paly at its own 20. The Vikings’ drive went backward, and on a punt from the 17, three Menlo rushers were breathing down the punter’s neck and Jung slapped it away and out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Knights a 5-0 lead.

“It’s a big overload, and when we hit it right, we definitely can hit the ball and get past the shield protection,” Jung said. “From there, it’s just getting your hands up and blocking that. Fortunately, all the cards played out and we did well.”

The biggest advance for either team in the first half came on a Paly punt midway through the second quarter. Menlo punt returner Ty Richardson took it at the Menlo 47 and returned it to the Paly 25. Then, for good measure, a face mask penalty on the play moved the ball to the Vikings’ 13. Then, after a 10-yard completion from Bianchi to Jung, the Knights went back to the air for a 6-yard slant route over the middle to Charlie King for a touchdown, sending Menlo into halftime with a 12-0 lead.

The Knights added a touchdown in the fourth quarter, as junior running back Willis Johnson was rewarded for his heavy workload with a 3-yard touchdown run with 8:39 to play. The score capped a 13-play, 82-yard drive that saw Johnson log previous rushes of 5, 6, 5 and 11 yards. Of Menlo’s 20 backfield runs, Johnson took 17 of them for 68 yards.

It was a difficult day for Paly (1-3) in several respects. Vikings head coach Dave Degeronimo took over the program this season after two stints as assistant coach on Earl Hansen’s staff from 1999-01 and 2007-14. Degeronimo was a late hire to take over for Nelson Gifford.

“I just worked my tail off trying to get the program up and running as quickly as possible under our new systems,” Degeronimo said.

Saturday’s trip to Cartan Field was an eerie one for the visiting team, though, as Paly had just eight fans in attendance. No Palo Alto students were allowed to attend the game after a one-game suspension was levied due to an incident Friday, Sept. 9 at Gunn High School, when Palo Alto students stormed the Gunn student section.

Menlo — by virtue of winning the PAL Ocean Division championship last year after a perfect 10-0 regular-season record — move up to the PAL Bay Division this season. It is the first time Menlo will play in the PAL’s upper division since 2018.

“It’s not really a new challenge,” Smith said. “This my 10th season here at Menlo and I’ve played Aragon, and Half Moon Bay, and Prep a ton of times. We’ve played M-A a few times. So, it’s not a new thing. The concern here at Menlo is just always being conscious of our health and the number of guys. I’ve never seen this program this injured … and I just get concerned. Our roster size is a big concern. So, going into the Bay, it’s just: Can we play high level football and keep our health with low numbers?”