In a Peninsula Athletic League-Ocean Division opener, Menlo football dropped a 21-7 decision Friday at home.
The Knights (2-3 overall) stopped Hillsdale in its opening two possessions, the second when sophomore Tyler Flynn recovered a fumble on a punt return.
At the end of the first quarter, Menlo senior Jaden Richardson again split defenders and pulled in a 30-yard touchdown pass, which was negated due to a personal foul. Hillsdale then got through to block the field-goal try and Tyler Dehoff scopped it up and ran for a 73-yard score to start the second period.
Credit: P. McKenneyThe Knights recovered three fumbles: sophomore Tyler Flynn recovered a fumbled punt return, but Hillsdale stopped the drive with an interception. Junior J.P. McKenney picked up a fumble at the Hillsdale 36, and the Knights drove to the 17 on runs by senior Justin Sellers and junior Sam Chung and a 12-yard Richardson reception from Sellers, but a fumble halted the drive.
Menlo senior James Marren would scooped up a fumble to start the third, but the Fighting Knights stopped the Knights at midfield. Hillsdale’s Nate Iskander strung together eight carries for 43 yards, then ran in for a 36-yard score midway through the third.
Menlo put together a 17-play drive that culminated in Alarcon’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Richardson. The two paired for a 20-yard gain, and Alarcon found junior Alex Wang for an 18-yard gain. In between, Chung was gaining ground with 14 yards in five carries during the drive and Alarcon hit Sellers for a 7-yard catch to pull closer, 14-7 with 28 seconds left in the third.
The Knights will look to reverse course against Carlmont next Friday in an unprecendented night game at Menlo for homecoming.

Hillsdale 0 7 7 7 - 21
Menlo School 0 0 7 0 - 7
Second quarter
H - Tyler Dehoff 73 blocked FG return, 9:28

Third quarter
H - Nate Iskander 36 run (Justin Flohr kick), 6:17
M - Jaden Richardson 19 pass from Kevin Alarcon (Santi Garcia-Mendez kick), :28

Fourth quarter
H - Iskander 8 run (Flohr kick), 6:29