ATHERTON, Calif. - It was not only Menlo's Homecoming but the first time the Knights have ever played a home game at night. And led by quarterback Kevin Alarcon and running back Samson Axe, Menlo celebrated the momentous occasion with a 23-17 win over visiting Carlmont Friday in a PAL-Ocean matchup.
With the score tied 14-14, Menlo seemed to have an empty drive, nearly losing more yards than they gained. On a fourth down, the Knights lined up in punt formation but snapped the ball to Justin Sellers, who ran 19 yards for a first down. The fake punt conversion energized the Knights who scored on a 9-yard rushing touchdown by Axe, putting Menlo up 21-14.
"We worked on that this week and put Justin, one of our quarterbacks, at that position, and he had the reins to make the call," said Menlo head coach Josh Bowie. "I didn't make the call from the sidelines, he made a judgment call as a player and it was the right call which was awesome."
The Scots looked to have a response when Jonaven Kuhn carried the ball inside the Knights 20-yard line, but the run was negated due to a block in the back penalty.
"We were bummed but we kept on fighting and not all of the calls were to our liking but we continued to work hard," Kuhn said.
The Scots ended up getting pushed back by another penalty, and on fourth down the snap sailed way over the head of punter Gino Bonetti and out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The safety put Menlo up 23-14 with just over nine minutes to play and gave them possession of the ball as well.
In what was a fierce battle, the Scots' fate was ultimately sealed when the Knights fell on top of the onside kick with 56 seconds remaining in the game. Menlo was able to hold on for the upset thanks in large part to the contributions of Axe, who broke off several long runs.
"I think about how hard my linemen are working and there's no better feeling in the world than seeing an open field and running through it," Axe said.
The Scots happened to be the team that struck first, scoring on a 13-yard touchdown run by Sean Mckenna with 13 seconds left in the first. The score came after the previous three drives had stalled, including a drive deep into Knight territory after a 50-yard run by Mckenna.
Menlo responded three drives later when Alarcon, who came back into the game after taking a hit early in the first, drove them down the field and later scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The PAT was successful and set the score at 7 apiece, at which it would remain heading into halftime.
Set up by a huge kickoff return by Si'i Tengei, the Scots opened up second-half scoring with a one-yard rush by Dane Fifita.
The Scots were never able to find a solid foothold, however, and let the Knights march down the field and score on a 19-yard touchdown catch by Jaden Richardson, a captain of Menlo's offense.
"We've had some injuries over the last couple weeks where we've had to mix and match guys, and at key points in time, having guys in positions where they weren't 100 percent sure of what they were doing was disastrous for us," said Carlmont head coach Jake Messina.
Scots quarterback Timothy Netane threw an interception on their next drive, but the defense came up big and forced a turnover on downs. The Scots then put a drive together and got the ball down inside the Knights' 10. Carlmont was briefly silenced when Bonetti double doinked the field goal try, but unlike Cody Parkey, the kicker for the Chicago Bears, his kick made it through, putting the score at 23-17.
"We got our blocks down and started throwing the ball more, and that opened up the run game for us and that helped us get down to the end zone," Kuhn said.
Bonetti was injured on the kick, and any chance of a Carlmont comeback was shattered when the Knights recovered the Scots onside kick attempt, kneeling on it to effectively end the game.
The win was huge for the Knights, as they did so in front of hundreds of students, parents, and alumni alike, all coming together for homecoming. It was even more standout as it came against a Scots team projected to be competing with Half Moon Bay for the Ocean League title.
"It feels amazing. We definitely had a good work ethic this week, put in a lot of work and I'm really happy that it paid off," Axe said.
It is also important to note that this was rather uncharted waters for the Knights, as they had never played a game at home underneath the lights before.
"I thought it was awesome, there were a lot of distractions going on with all these events at school, but they handled it with poise and class," Bowie said. "I think the big ticket was that all these fans gave support and I think we fed off the energy of the crowd. Menlo's played 100 years of football and this was the first time a team has gotten to play under the lights in this kind of environment and I thought that was really special."
In the end, the Scots were undone by penalties, committing 11 of them over the course of the game. Many of these penalties had either negated a big Carlmont play or extended a drive for the Knights.
"Some of our penalties were obvious and deserved, but some of them we got the short end of the stick and in a tight game that can be the difference," coach Messina said. "We have to play better and clean it up and figure some things out. As much as I've think we've progressed and moved it forward, maybe we aren't quite there yet."
The Scots (3-3, 0-1 PAL-Ocean) next play at home versus San Mateo (5-1) while the Knights (3-3, 1-1) travel to Half Moon Bay to play the undefeated Cougars (6-0).
