Menlo’s historic football run continues

It was the picture of a team letting loose after accomplishing a goal that started at the end of last year’s postseason, when Menlo fell short of a perfect season with a lopsided loss to Wilcox in the 2021 CCS Division II finals.

“It was pure joy,” Menlo quarterback Jake Bianchi said. “We had been working at this for so long. After what happened last year, we were all there for it, we knew that was an amazing team … and we weren’t going to let that happen again.”

Now, Bianchi and the Knights (8-5) are heading into uncharted territory. Menlo opens play Saturday night in the CIF Division 4-A Northern California regional championship game, traveling to Novato to face North Coast Section Division V champion San Marin. As the first state tournament appearance for the Knights, it will mark the first time the varsity program takes the field in the month of December.

“We were close last year,” Bianchi said. “But this is new to me.”

The locker room party of the CCS championship celebration was quite a contrast to Menlo’s locker room just three halves of football earlier. While the Knights ultimately took down Live Oak 21-14 in the Division III semifinals the week previous, all their points came in the second half.

Despite heading into the halftime locker room trailing 14-0, the mood was more pensive than somber. Menlo, after all, was a team on a mission.

“I think we had some talks in the locker room at halftime,” Bianchi said. “We knew we were better than this team and we knew we didn’t want to end our season like this. … Nobody thought the game was over. It was 14-0 and we were clearly not playing our best football.”

The second-half comeback in the CCS semis was spurred by Menlo’s outstanding defense, highlighted by the front three, senior linemen Alec Jabal, Ralston Raphael and Avery Romain, and anchored by senior middle linebacker Cort Halsey.

With a few key stops at the start of the second half began the best stretch of defense the Knights have played this season. They are currently riding a streak of six straight shutout quarters of football. The only score by Hollister in the CCS championship game was on a second-half kickoff return.

And the composure Menlo showed in the locker room of halftime at the CCS semifinals showed up again in the championship game, this time on the field. The rancor between the Knights and the Haybalers boiled over in the second half. Two contentious tackles of Bianchi — according to him, both involved helmet-to-helmet contact — were followed by a cheap shot that led to a Hollister senior defensive player being ejected.

Ejections in high school football come with a mandatory one-game suspension. So, the mission for a Menlo team well on its way to victory was to take any shenanigans in stride.

“At that point I think it was 28-0; we were knocking on the door for it to be 35-0 … if something happens right now, it means so much more for us than it does to them,” Bianchi said. “So, we did a good job collecting our players. … I think we executed the situation pretty well.”

Keeping the offense intact is critical to Menlo’s success, with every cog part of a well-oiled machine. The Knights’ offense underwent some heady changes this season. Not only did the team graduate its dynamic quarterback Sergio Beltran, who set the record for CCS single-season touchdown passes in 2021, Menlo also saw offensive coordinator Austyn Carta-Samuels depart, making way for former Sacred Heart Cathedral OC Mike Hill to take over.

The biggest evolution has been the integration of Menlo’s running game. Bianchi’s arm and a slew of receivers are still the foundation of the team’s success. The senior quarterback threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns against Hollister and has accounted for 2,739 yards via the air attack this season.

But the emergence of running back Ty Richardson has been a game changer. The senior converted from slot receiver earlier this season and has really hit stride in the playoffs. Richardson has rushed for eight touchdowns this year, six coming in the CCS postseason. He has totaled 1,098 yards of offense — 617 rushing and 481 receiving — and is coming off the two best rushing performances of his varsity career.

“We run the ball a lot more this year,” Bianchi said. “We try to be a lot more balanced. And I feel like Ty Richardson, anytime I hand him the ball, he can run it to the house.”

San Marin (11-2) is a postseason perennial. This marks the Mustangs’ 12th straight year in the playoffs, including a streak of eight straight wins in playoff games, dating back to last season when they captured both the NCS Division V and CIF Division 5-AA championships.

The winner of Saturday’s Nor Cal regional finals advances to the CIF Division 4-A State Championship Bowl, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10.