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by Tim Goode
Palo Alto Online Sports
Menlo School’s football team knew it needed a near-perfect performance Saturday to defeat unbeaten Carmel and earn the school’s first-ever Central Coast Section championship.
Instead of perfect, the Knights will have to settle for title-game worthy as the Padres capped a perfect season with a 56-35 victory over Menlo in the Division IV title game at Westmont High School.
Carmel improved to 12-0 and will find out if its effort was enough to earn a selection to the California State playoffs.
Both Carmel and Menlo School (9-4) entered this year’s tournament without ever having won a CCS playoff game, but Carmel went on a three-game postseason steamroll, scoring 176 points during its run. Menlo, which lost to Carmel in nonleague play in the second game of the season, 49-14, gave Carmel its closest game and in the process became the first team to get a lead on the Padres at any time during the season.
Menlo had leads of 7-0 and 14-6 before Carmel hit its stride. The Padres scored touchdowns on four of their next five possesions to close out the half with a 35-21 lead and never looked back.
Menlo stayed in the game behind quarterback Danny Diekroeger, who threw for a season-high 470 yards and four touchdowns, completing 30 of 48 passes. The senior quarterback’s effort gives him 4,179 yards passing, most in Northern California and second in the state. The mark also is a Bay Area record.
Diekroeger’s effort also shattered the Menlo single-season passing record, which was set by Jim McKinley at 3,353 yards in 1988 when he was the first Menlo quarterback to run the Mouse Davis Run ‘n’ Shoot offense that is still run today. The 470 yards also breaks McKinley’s single-game record of 458 yards against Terra Nova in 1988. Diekroeger’s 533 yards of total offense also is another school record, breaking McKinley’s 494 from the Terra Nova game.
Junior receiver Tim Benton accounted for more than half the passing yards, catching 10 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown.
Clay Robbins, the team’s leading receiver, absorbed three hellacious hits during the course of the game and was helped to the sideline each time. He returned after each hit. After the game, however, Robbins was taken by ambulance to Stanford Hospital where he was kept briefly for observation before being sent home Saturday night, according to Menlo coach Mark Newton.
Robbins recovered enough after the first hit to sprint to the locker room toward the end of halftime and rejoin the team despite suffering from a reported concussion.
“I didn’t think (Robbins) was going to come back, but he’s such a tough kid,” said Menlo coach Mark Newton. “When he came out with the team at half time we knew we had a shot.”
Robbins caught three passes for 67 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown bomb in the first quarter.
Robbins finished the season with 1,706 receiving yards, ranking him second in the state and sixth nationally while Benton’s 1,190 ranks him 19th in the state and 79th nationally.
Menlo scored on its first possession of the second half on a 1-yard run from Beau Nichols, but Carmel was able to reach the end zone on its first three possessions of the half.
“We needed to get some defensive stops but we couldn’t get enough,” Newton said. “It’s a team loss but the guys fought hard.”
Menlo’s offense was effective throughout the game, scoring a final touchdown with 1:33 remaining on a 30-yard shuffle pass from Diekroeger to Nichols, which worked well throughout the game. Nichols finished with 12 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
The Knights outgained the Padres 549 to 452, but Carmel added a 91-yard kick return and another 40-yard return in the first quarter. Menlo also was heavily penalized, many for unsportsmanlike conduct as the game slipped away. The Knights were hit with 14 penalties for 122 yards.
“We knew Carmel was the best team we have played all year and we knew we would have to play perfectly,” Diekroeger said. “We just missed on a couple of opportunities . . . We can’t ask for much more. We are thankful for how far we’ve come this year and we’re not going to forget these memories.”
Central Coast Section
Division IV Championship
At Westmont High
Menlo 14 7 7 7 – 35
Carmel 21 14 7 14 – 56
MS – Benton 42 pass from Diekroeger (Diekroeger kick)
C – Hopkins 91 kick return (run failed)
MS – Robbins 43 pass from Diekreoger (Diekroeger kick)
C – Keyser 2 run (Nottenkamper pass from Pearson)
C – Hopkins 8 run (Franks kick)
C – Enriquez 31 pass from Pearson (Franks kick)
MS – Nichols 30 pass from Diekroeger (Diekroeger kick)
C – Pearson 1 run (Franks kick)
C- Woodward 11 pass from Pearson (Franks kick)
MS – Nichols 1 run (Diekroeger kick)
C – Hopkins 18 run (Franks kick)
C – Wooward 59 pass from Pearson (Franks kick)
MS – Nichols 20 pass from Diekroeger (Diekroeger kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Menlo, Diekroeger 13-62, Nichols 9-18, Robbins 1-(minus-1). Carmel, Hopkins 17-133, Pearson 10-44, Keyser 4-8. Totals: Menlo 23-79; Carmel 31-185.
PASSING: Menlo, Diekroeger 30-48-0-470. Carmel, Pearson 14-16-0-267, Woodward 0-1-0-0. Totals: Menlo 30-48-0-470; Carmel 14-17-0-267.
RECEIVING: Benton 10-237, Nichols 12-122, Robbins 3-67, Boyce 2-35, Badger 2-10, Maruyama 1-(minus-1). Carmel, Manas 4-76, Woodward 3-76, Enriquez 3-42, Johnston 2-53, Hopkins 2-20. Totals: Menlo 30-470; Carmel 14-267.
Records: Menlo finishes 9-4; Carmel 12-0