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Sergio Beltran completed 13 of his 14 passes for 172 yards and four touchdowns. That’s just the first quarter.
The Menlo senior quarterback finished with 308 yards on 18-of-19 passing and seven touchdowns as Menlo School scored on every possession in a 48-7 home PAL Ocean Division victory over Jefferson on Saturday.
Beltran threw to seven different receivers and six of them caught touchdown passes. Junior Chris Liao caught a seven-yard pass that gave the Knights (5-0, 1-0) a key first down deep in Jefferson territory.
Menlo played in Jefferson territory most of the afternoon. Willis Johnson set the pace, taking the opening kickoff to the Grizzlies’ 48-yard line. The Knights also started drives on Jefferson’s 48 (again), 29 and 31.
Menlo did start once from its own 14-yard line. The Knights drove 86 yards in two plays: a 52-yard pass to Cort Halsey followed by a 34-yard scoring toss to Halsey.
Only a running clock and an efficient drive by Jefferson kept the score down. After Beltran’s final pass, a 17-yard scoring toss to Carter Jung, the Grizzlies (2-2, 0-1) marched down the field for its lone touchdown, taking up the rest of the third quarter and nearly all the fourth quarter.
Jefferson followed by recovering an on-side kick. The Grizzlies threatened to score again when the clock expired.
Beltran’s NCAA quarterback rating would have been 352.5 for the game. In the NFL, he would have been close to 150.0. His touchdown pass totals soared to 26 (against one interception) on the season.
His other touchdown passes were of 20 and 28 yards to Robby Enright, 12 yards to Jack Giesler, 11 yards to Tyler Flynn and 11 yards to Ben Banatao.
Junior kicker Ross Muchnick missed his first PAT after a penalty moved the ball back and then hit six straight. It was just his second miss of the season.
Banatao and Enright each returned punts that put Menlo in favorable field position, though it seems like the Knights can score from anywhere.
Johnson, Jung, Flynn, Avery Romain and Ari Krane were among the many defensive players who made plays for Menlo, which plays at home again Saturday, a 3 p.m. contest with Hillsdale (4-1), coming off a bye this week after beating Sacred Heart Prep.
Hillsdale opened its season with a one-point loss to Terra Nova and has since outscored opponents by a 138-46 margin.
