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Another near perfect game for the Menlo-Atherton pass attack translated to an easy 34-8 win over Burlingame as the Bears clinched their fourth consecutive PAL Bay Division championship Friday night at Coach Parks Field.
Matt MacLeod completed 9 of 11 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns and has completed 53 of 61 passes (86.9%) over his last three games.
“A big-time player, the most under-recruited player in California,” M-A coach Chris Saunders said. “The best quarterback in California, making plays outside of the pocket and running our run-pass option offense.”
Two of MacLeod’s touchdown passes went to Jalen Moss, who earlier in the day announced his commitment to play college football at Fresno State. The first one was a 6-yarder on M-A’s third offensive play of the game, and the second one, a 29-yarder, came on the only pass MacLeod threw in the second half, as M-A already had a 28-0 lead at halftime.
“This was very emotional for me, coming out here one last time.” Moss said. “Today was a very big step in my life.”
Dane Fifita scored two touchdowns for M-A (7-2, 4-0), one after taking a screen pass from MacLeod and going 57 yards for a score, and the other after picking up a fumble while playing on the defensive line and taking it 27 yards for a touchdown that gave the Bears a 21-0 lead.
“Dane showed the ability to go side to side as well as running through guys,” Saunders said. “He’s so low to the ground and so explosive.”
After a Burlingame punt, M-A needed only one play to score as MacLeod threw a long ball, just beyond the reach of a Burlingame defensive back and into the arms of Jeremiah Earby for a 55-yard touchdown.
Burlingame (7-2, 3-2) averted the shutout when backup running back Joey Nawrocki scored in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard run.
“M-A is a great football team,” Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos said. “They’re athletic, fast, big, well-coached and are playing well. They are the real deal.”
Burlingame will play its traditional rivalry game next with San Mateo, the Little Big Game.
M-A has one PAL Bay game left, Friday at The King’s Academy. Then it’s on to the playoffs and to see how the Bears fare against the top teams in the Central Coast Section.
“Coming out here with the guys, let’s finish this, do everything like we’re supposed to do the next couple of weeks,” Moss said. “Better watch out for the M-A Bears, we’ve been building on this for years.”
