Menlo suffers first loss of year in battle of PAL Bay unbeatens

For a game that saw Los Gatos take a mere 7-0 lead into halftime, the one-score difference seemed forebodingly one-sided. The Wildcats benefitted from short fields consistently, and still went on to outgain Menlo 333-189 in total yards.

“I think we just started losing track of the game in terms of scores,” Menlo head coach Todd Smith said. “We tried to go up top. We couldn’t run the football today. We’ve been able to run the football, and Los Gatos had a good plan up front for us. And obviously the inevitable happened with 24 kids.”

Shorthanded Menlo (2-1, 7-1) felt the difference in roster sizes at the line, where the Knights were playing most of their personnel two ways. Los Gatos didn’t have to, and opened running lanes for seven different running backs — paced by senior Grayson Doslak, with 13 carries for a game-high 79 yards — throughout.

“Big roster ... they’re able to switch their dudes, and we’ve got maybe 25 barely healthy on game day,” Pappalardo said. “We’ve got boys going both ways, just working hard.”

Menlo quarterback Jack Freehill was limited to nine carries for 24 yards on the day, the lowest rushing total of the year for the gritty, ultra-aggressive senior. Freehill took a wicked hit near the sideline during the first quarter, after which Menlo seemed to limit his rushing calls.

“He’s a guy that always wants that next yard — the most competitive spirit of anyone on the team, I would say,” Pappalardo said. “What a dawg. I think he’s in good hands, health wise, and he’s been blessed to take these strong hits and get back up, and have our line pick him up.”

Smith pushed back against the question of Freehill’s carries being limited because of the hit.

“Not at all,” Smith said. “Jack Freehill is one of the best quarterbacks in California. We are exactly where we are because Jack Freehill is exactly who he is.”

Freehill added a 14-for-24 passing line for 115 yards with two interceptions.

“This was an explosive offensive team,” Los Gatos head coach Mark Krail said, “and to hold those guys to zero points was pretty impressive.”

A bruising first half saw Los Gatos strike first. The Knights got one stop midway through the first quarter, but Menlo’s second possession stalled and a shanked punt gave the Wildcats the ball back at Menlo’s 39-yard line.

The Wildcats used a 13-yard pass on third-and-9 from senior quarterback Callum Schweitzer to senior Max Thomas to move the chains. Then, after Schweitzer’s 12-yard strike to Doslak at the 2, Schweitzer ran it in on a keeper to give Los Gatos a 7-0 lead with 39 seconds to go in the quarter.

The second quarter was marred by Los Gatos holding penalties, but two thrown interceptions by Menlo proved the equalizer. The Knights started the ensuing possession at their own 2, but moved it out of the red zone to the 35 before Freehill misfired with senior linebacker Andrew Sandoval there for the pick.

Menlo forced a turnover on downs at its own 23, and went on the march to end the half. Freehill extended the drive on third-and-2 from the 31 with a 12-yard pass to senior Trevor Van der Pyl (six catches, 53 yeards). Then on fourth-and-7 from the Los Gatos 40, Freehill moved the sticks again by threading the needle on a comeback route to sophomore JayAr Davis for a 14-yard pickup. But with eight seconds to go in the half, Freehill’s next pass into the end zone was read out of the hand by Schweitzer for a Los Gators interception.

In the second half, though, Los Gatos continued keying on Menlo senior defensive end Palmer Riley. Also playing two-way duty, Riley was a talking point for Los Gatos in the lead-up to the battle for first place in the Bay.

“All week,” Krail said. “And he’s good. We struggled, we changed some schemes up and it didn’t seem to work. And he was quicker off the ball than we were at times, and really created some problems for us. But I think it was a real challenge with him, knowing where he is. And to their credit, they move him around. They don’t put him in one spot and just leave him there. They move him inside, they move him outside, and that’s the chess game that’s part of the fun of this.”

Los Gatos’ interior offensive line was up to the task though, with senior center Ryan Burg, senior guard Nathaniel Vorobeichik and junior guard Walter Crawford paving the way for the Wildcats to score on three of their first four possessions of the second half.

“It’s been a work in progress, to be honest with you,” Krail said of the Los Gatos line. “They’re all fairly new guys this year. And we lost some tough games early in the year because they were green, and trying to figure it all out. So, you always want to be playing your best football in November, and I think we’re on the right trajectory for that.”

The Wildcats opened the second half with a quick five-play, 60-yard drive, capped by senior Hayden Benjamin’s 15-yard score on a reverse handoff.

The two teams traded turnovers on downs, but Menlo was later forced to punt with five minutes to go in the third quarter. Los Gatos took over at its own 17, and used chunks of 19 yards on a Devonte Troutt run, and 24 yards on a Schweitzer pass to Doslak to set up the score, a 15-yard strike from Schweitzer to Thomas to make it 21-0.

After Menlo turned it over on downs again, Los Gatos took over near midfield to drive 52 yards on nine plays, capped by a 1-yard scoring dive from Troutt.

“When we played Gatos last year they did a really good job of containing, having their ends out wide and surfing the surface,” Pappalardo said. “This year we saw a little bit of that, but they were less effective. So, going in, we wanted to exploit that a little bit more, but with the hits and health concerns, we wanted to prioritize the health of our quarterback. We have a season ahead of us.”

Smith refused to answer questions about Menlo’s future and the Knights already having clinched a Central Coast Section playoff bid.

“Directly after a battle like that when I see half of our football team banged up and limping off the field, and 60 other kids getting to go home and hug their parents and feel good about themselves, the last thing I think about is where we’re at with the season or what we want to do,” Smith said. “My mind and my heart are with our kids, who battled their asses off. It was a great football game up until the fourth quarter. And I’m just concerned about our kids, not where we’re at with the season. That will take care of itself.”