SAN BRUNO – Menlo School’s Chuck Wynn proudly revealed after the Knights’ 38-28 victory over host Capuchino on Friday, that he is 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds.
Wynn said it with a smile.
If any player epitomized Menlo’s state as a football program, it was the junior who gave the Capuchino offensive line fits. The team’s starting running back was forced into adding outside linebacker to his role because of injuries to teammates, and there he was, the smallest guy in the trenches drawing double teams and even being held in an effort to control him.
“They just put me in and said, ‘just eat,’ Wynn said. “Just eat away.”
In teenage vernacular, Wynn ‘ate’ plenty. He caused havoc on defense, rushed for 90 yards on 21 carries, and picked up a huge momentum changing first down on a fake punt that he conceived of himself.
Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill scores a touchdown against Capuchino in the 1st half, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
It’s not necessarily that Wynn was the team’s biggest star. Receiver Jack Enright made two spectacular tackle-breaking plays on pass catches that resulted in scoring plays of 23 and 55 yards, and gave quarterback Jack Freehill his 11th and 12th touchdown passes of the season.
And linebacker Jamie Forese scored on a pick six of 25 yards during a Menlo run of 28 unanswered first-half points to take a 28-7 lead.
But it was Wynn who seemed to best represent what Menlo football is all about. It’s a program with great tradition, mostly in the passing game, dating back to QB phenom John Paye in the early 1980s.
But it’s also a program that, partly due to its small high school enrollment of about 600, has traditionally had small rosters – both in number of players and their physical size. On Friday, Menlo suited up 23 players.
Menlo School’s Jack Enright #2 celebrates his 45-yard touchdown reception against Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Todd Smith, in his fifth season as head coach, is a genius in maximizing the talent at hand, even if the Knights are regularly undersized compared to their opponents. He does so by spreading his offense across the field, putting Freehill on the move, and having a good plan when things start to break down.
“Trusting each other is a big thing,” said Freehill, who completed 9 of 17 passes for 146 yards, threw for two scores and ran for two more. “My receivers know what I’m thinking. It’s nice when your receivers are amazing in the scramble drill and make me look better than I actually am.”
But somehow it all works. Menlo, which will be playing in the top-level Bay Division of the Peninsula Athletic League this year, is 4-0. And in a different sign of its success, 17 alums are playing college football, including four on Power Four programs.
Capuchino’s Lucas Zayac #21 drives near the goal line on a 1st quarter touchdown drive against Menlo School, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Capuchino (3-1), one of the PAL’s big risers and now in the second-level De Anza Division, conceded nothing to Menlo. Quarterback Bobby Gomez had only 46 passing yards in the first half, and 169 in the second in a 24-of-39 for 215 yard-game.
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The Mustangs came out in the second half and appeared to stop Menlo for the second consecutive drive. But Wynn, in punt formation on fourth-and-5 at Menlo’s own 31, saw a gap and charged through it for six yards and a first down on what would be a 14-play touchdown drive that gave the Knights a 35-14 lead.
“That was not intended,” Wynn said. “I saw a gap and took a chance. It was crucial part of the game.”
Capuchino, however, continued to battle, recovering their own onside kick in the final minute though the game was out of reach.
“We’re just built that way,” Capuchino coach Jay Oca said. “This is a working class community. We just keep fighting over here. The coaches are built that way and the kids are reflection of the coaching staff.”
Lucas Zayac carried nine times for 43 yards on Cap’s opening drive, scoring on a five-yard run for a 7-0 lead. He also scored the final touchdown, on a nine-yard pass with 1:01 to go.
“We fight, we fight all the way through. We’re not going to give up. We think we’re better than that.”
Said Smith of the Mustangs: “That team believed.”
As for Menlo …
“We’re trying to get some more players,” Smith said. “We don’t want to put too much on them. We need to help them. And our administration understands that … This is a really special thing that we’ve got going here.”
Wearing different colored shoes, Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill #3 scrambles out of the pocket to make a pass against Capuchino in the 1st quarter, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School’s Jack Enright #2 breaks multiple tackles on a 1st quarter touchdown against Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill #3 crosses the goal line on a keeper to start the 4th quarter against Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School’s Jack Enright #2 on a 1st quarter touchdown drive Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School’s Jack Enright #2 celebrates his 1st quarter touchdown against Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Capuchino’s Lucas Zayac #21 advances the ball on a 1st quarter touchdown drive against Menlo School’s Keli’i Chavinson #9 Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill scores a touchdown against Capuchino’s Issa Keishk in the 1st half, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill #3 is tripped up by Capuchino’s Lucas Zayac #21 in the 1st quarter, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School quarterback Jack Freehill passes against Capuchino in the 1st half, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Menlo School’s Jack Enright #2 catches a 45-yard touchdown pass against Capuchino, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Capuchino’s Lucas Zayac #21 rushes against Menlo School’s Jamie Forese, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Capuchino wide receiver Travis Ciardella #4 hauls in a pass over Menlo School’s Ryan Jabal #7 and Jack Enright #2 in the 4th quarter, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
