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Going into Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division II playoff game, there was reason to believe Half Moon Bay could be a tough matchup for Menlo School.
The only times Menlo’s prolific passing offense had been held in check were against Terra Nova and Sacred Heart Prep, two PAL Bay Division teams that finished behind Half Moon Bay in the standings.
But when push came to shove Saturday afternoon, Menlo’s offense was in its customary high-flying state. And the Menlo defense, overshadowed all season by the huge numbers the offense was putting up, made life difficult for the Cougars as Menlo pulled away for a convincing 47-28 victory.
No. 4 seed Menlo (11-0) advances to play in the Division II semifinals at No. 1 San Benito in Hollister on Friday at 7 p.m.
Sergio Beltran threw four touchdown passes to bring his season total to 48. Beltran, who already set a CCS regular-season record for touchdown passes with 44, now is one behind the all-time record, playoffs included, of 49 set by Terra Nova’s Anthony Gordon in 2013.
Beltran was 11 of 19 for 202 yards passing. He also carried 12 times for 147 yards and two more touchdowns, demonstrating some shifty moves.
“That’s my favorite part of the game,.” Beltran said. “Running, making plays when everything has broken down.”
Three of his four touchdown passes went to Carter Jung, who finished with six catches for 134 yards. Jung, also a defensive back, was part of a defensive unit that allowed a season-high 28 points. But that was against a Half Moon Bay team that had scored 42 or more points in four of its last five games, all against Bay Division competition.
“We spent a lot of hours in practice preparing for them and schemed them up real well,” said Jung, who will play football next year at Amherst College. “We had answers for every set they presented.”
Beltran passed for three touchdowns and ran for one in a first half that concluded with Menlo leading 28-14. Half Moon Bay (5-5) kicked off to start the second half and Ty Richardson returned it 87 yards for a touchdown.
“I’ve been waiting for that,” said Richardson, who admitted to visualizing doing so while lying in bed at night and waiting for sleep to kick in. “I’ve had a couple of good returns, but not for a touchdown. It made me really happy.”
After Half Moon Bay’s do-everything quarterback William Moffitt scored on an 11-yard run, Richardson had another nice return of 44 yards. Moffitt finished with 123 yards rushing on 26 carries, had 190 yards passing and scored three of HMB’s four touchdowns.
Beltran’s 4-yard TD run made it 41-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. His 70-yard pass to Jung increased the lead to 47-20 and put the game on ice.
Sam Scola had two sacks and an interception for the Menlo defense and Chris Liao also had an interception.
