Bright lights and a sell out crowd were not needed Friday afternoon at Menlo's Cartan Field to generate excitement. The Cougars received the opening kick and on third down, their first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, pumping up the home side of the field. The Knights were denied on a 2 point conversion play and took the early lead 6-0. Liam Harrington plunged in for a five yard TD run to even the score after an 80 yard drive. The two teams would combine for almost 900 yards of offense and 95 points on the warm afternoon filled with gridiron fireworks, with the Cougars coming out victorious 53-42. PJ Modena was again the work horse carrying 31 times for 175 yards to lead all rushers but that was just the beginning of the ground assault put on the Menlo defense. The offensive line of Luis Nic, Aiden Vasquez, Colton Henry, Alan Avila, Gael Segura, and Jordi Sanchez along with tight ends Kai Zannette, Ayden Courtney, and Peter Valdez were named Offensive Players of the Week for their dominating performance. The Cougars ran through, around and over the Knights, totalling 467 yards rushing. Dio Lucido added 112 yards, Harrison Tobias broke off a 61 yard touchdown romp as part of his 96 yards and Liam Harrington piled on 80 more before having to leave the game due to an injury. The Knights offense was explosive, and tried to keep pace but in the end the Cougar defense made enough plays to hold them off. With Harrington out, senior safety and slotback Owen Miller stepped into the breach and took over at QB but his play on defense and special teams led the orange and black to victory. Miller made two tackles on kicking plays, became the holder on field goal and PAT attempts, had two sacks and a key interception on defense and overall had a huge impact through his confident and calm demeanor. Joining Miller on defense with timely plays were Hermes McClellan with a tackle for loss, Avila and Cortney with sacks, and Lucido and Modena making 6 tackles each. In addition to the Cougar's six rushing touchdowns, Lucido had a TD reception from Harrington and added a two point conversion run. Zannette made a nice catch in traffic and jimenez knocked in a 31 yard field goal.The Cougars play at home Friday night at 7 PM against the Burlingame Panthers for Homecoming. Come out and root them on !!

This week’s Community Cougar for Homecoming week is Jonathan Bali. Jonathan is an alumni who graduated in 2014. Since graduating from HMBHS, Jonathan has spent time coaching here on Cougar Hill and has since taken his passion for football and the coastside and shared his photography of the team on Instagram. Jonathan’s work can be found @johnbalisworld.