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The 90-mile bus ride back from Salinas didn’t seem so bad for the Menlo-Atherton football team after a 35-31 win in the Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinals.
M-A (9-2) advances to play at No. 1 seed St. Francis, Friday at 7 p.m.
The No. 5 seed Bears overcame an early 14-0 deficit.
Matt MacLeod’s screen pass to Dane Fifita got them on the scoreboard and a slant to Jalen Moss tied it 14-14. Then MacLeod connected with Jeremiah Earby on a back-side post pattern to give M-A the lead.
“Just an unbelievable throw,” M-A coach Chris Saunders said. “He was on the run, one step from going out of bounds and threw it off one foot.”
After No. 4 seed Salinas (8-1) drew even, MacLeod hit Earby again for his fourth touchdown pass on the last play of the first half to put the Bears up 28-21.
Fifita’s rushing touchdown increased the lead to 35-21 in the third quarter. The Cowboys responded with a touchdown and a field goal to cut the lead to four. M-A took over with just under seven minutes left and never let Salinas touch the ball again as runs by Fifita and MacLeod moved the chains and ate up the clock.
MacLeod threw for 388 yards, Fifita had 110 yards rushing and another 104 yards receiving. Earby caught seven passes for 152 yards and Moss, in addition to his touchdown reception, had two interceptions.
M-A’s kicking game was a big plus. Dash Franklin booted five kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks and a Johnnie Barbie punt pinned Salinas at the 2-yard line.
