The Menlo School football team leaned on a suffocating defense and its versatile offense to take down Northgate 50-28 on the road Friday night, improving to 5-0 on the season.

Senior quarterback Jack Freehill accounted for five touchdowns — two rushing and three passing — and finished with 188 passing yards on 13 of 19 attempts while adding 77 yards on the ground in just seven carries. The Knights built momentum in the second quarter and pulled away from the Broncos in the second half.

Menlo's Jack Freehill had another monster night with three TD passes and two scoring runs.Senior Trevor van der Pyl caught two of those touchdown passes and sophomore JayAr Davis the other fo a 56-yard score, puttng the Knights ahead for good 21-14 just before the half. Senior Chuck Wynn accounted for 79 yards in 18 carries and junior Merrick Ward had 73 yards in five rushes - both scoring on second-half TD runs.​Van der Pyl finished with six receptions for 84 yards and Davis three cacthes for 70 yards.

The Knights’ defensive unit delivered some of the game’s biggest early moments. After holding Northgate to three-and-out on its opening drive, Menlo denied the Broncos’ next drive from inside the 5-yard line, stopping them on 4th and goal. Palmer Riley added a sack on the same possession.

On Northgate’s next series, heading into the second quarter, juniors Merrick Ward and Nathan Banatao came up with key consecutive pass breakups to end another threat.

Those stops kept the game scoreless in the first quarter and allowed Freehill and the offense to take over in the second.

Menlo sophomore JayAr Davis hauled in a 56-yard touchodown pass from Jack FreehillFreehill got Menlo on the board with a 33-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, though Northgate quickly answered with a 20-yard scoring pass from Maximus Cantrell to Dax Gordon. Freehill responded with a 45-yard strike to Trevor van der Pyl, only for the Broncos to tie it again on a Micah Anum touchdown run.

But with 34 seconds left before halftime, Freehill fired deep to sophomore JayAr Davis for a 56-yard score, giving Menlo a 21-14 lead it would never relinquish.

After halftime, the Knights surged ahead. Freehill extended the lead with a short touchdown run, and Ward added his own highlight, breaking free for a 34-yard touchdown as Menlo built a commanding 35-14 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

As reliable as ever, Knights senior Dylan O’Malley was 6 of 6 on PATs and caught pass for a conversion from junior Caleb Cohen. 

Northgate managed two more touchdowns in the final frame, including a last-minute kickoff return by Thomas Borbely, but Freehill’s 12-yard scoring pass to van der Pyl and a late 3-yard run from Wynn, set up byAlex Vagelos’ interception, kept the Knights comfortably in front.