Hudson Schrader’s pair of picks sets the tone as Los Gatos suffocates Menlo School’s offense in shutout win

ATHERTON Los Gatos coach Mark Krail was confident in his crew s chances against Menlo School They cannot stop you he revealed on the sideline at one point in the second half He was right It took a while for the Wildcats to impose their will but once they did it was match over Los Gatos which led by a touchdown at the half got rolling downhill in the second half and cruised to the finish scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to salt away a - win Fast and physical Krail explained his squad after the match That s what we talked about getting on the bus fast and physical You guys were that nowadays Menlo School's Trevor van der Pyl runs with the ball against Los Gatos during the fourth quarter at Menlo School in Atherton Calif on Saturday Oct Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Menlo - - hung around in the first two quarters even threatening to tie the contest late in the first half But Jack Freehill s pass into the corner of the end zone was intercepted by Hudson Schrader snuffing out the Knights best chance to amount with seconds to play in the first half It was Schrader s second pick of the half a game-altering snag that set the tone for the Cats domination after the halftime break I saw that the quarterback was looking over there before the play Schrader declared I ve watched a lot of film this week and I knew his tendency is that he threw to that side And then I jumped it when I saw he was just staring down the receiver Los Gatos coaches were hoping for a shutout as the Cats pulled away late and they got their wish thanks to a group that rotated in waves of players They all upheld the standard that the coaches preached and gave the offense plenty of time to figure things out in the second half Los Gatos' Hudson Schrader Los Gatos' Devonte Troutt and Los Gatos' Gavin Jordan celebrate against Menlo School during the second quarter at Menlo School in Atherton Calif on Saturday Oct Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group We re starting to play as a family Schrader announced People know who we are People know who our venture is And certain people maybe think that we re underdogs this year but we re the same effort as dependably That project is one that has Los Gatos - - poised to win the Peninsula Athletic League s Bay Division once again What happens afterward will ultimately prove what this version of the Wildcats is capable of Our first goal is to win our league and that still is hot on the stove Krail stated But this time of year we just want to keep getting better We know we re going to be in the top bracket and we re going to play the best teams in our section so we want to be playing our best football If we play good clean football we can play with anybody Related Articles High school football in pictures Highlights captured from Week Bay Area high school football roundup Best of Week action San Jose overpowers Prospect opens path to CCS playoffs Clayton Valley outlasts Campolindo to put itself in position to play for DAL crown Serra pulls away from Mitty as Jeovanni Henley atones for fumble with a pick-six Menlo meanwhile was left licking its wounds after taking several lumps against a Los Gatos squad with a much larger roster That reality had Knights coach Todd Smith focusing on the immediate present and not a looming matchup with Wilcox next week Menlo School's Chuck Wynn runs with the ball against Los Gatos' Hudson Schrader and Los Gatos' Jack Harrington during the third quarter at Menlo School in Atherton Calif on Saturday Oct Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group I couldn t be prouder of our kids Smith disclosed Our kids played their tails off We didn t execute especially offensively that s pretty clear but it doesn t mean that they didn t play extremely hard Los Gatos runs through a lot of teams and they weren t running through us It was a tight football contest for a long time Los Gatos vast array of playmakers gave the Wildcats plenty of scoring opportunities on Saturday Quarterback Callum Schweitzer kept on a read option to run in the Cats first touchdown from yards out then Hayden Benjamin showcased exceptional contact balance on a -yard third-quarter number latest several tackles on his way to the end zone Max Thomas caught a -yard slant from Schweitzer to put Los Gatos up - in the fourth and Devonte Troutt finished off the scoring with a -yard run later in the frame Los Gatos' Callum Schweitzer throws the ball against Menlo School's Palmer Riley in the first quarter at Menlo School in Atherton Calif on Saturday Oct Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group Los Gatos' Max Thomas tries to catch the ball against Menlo School's JayAr Davis during the third quarter at Menlo School in Atherton Calif on Saturday Oct Shae Hammond Bay Area News Group