Menlo School and Palma squared off in some playoff action on Saturday, but Menlo School had to settle for second. They and the Palma Chieftains were almost perfectly matched up, but they suffered a 24-23 loss. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Knights of the 29-14 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in September of 2017.
When it comes to explaining why Menlo School lost, don't look at Jack Freehill. Despite the final result, he rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries, and also threw for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Freehill a new career-high in rushing yards.
Even though they lost, Menlo School was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 205 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in three consecutive matches.
Palma found their leader in sophomore Eli Dukes, who rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 40 receiving yards. Dukes was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 54 yards.
With the loss, Menlo School broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 8-4. As for Palma, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a massive bump to their 7-5 record this season.
Menlo School does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Palma, they will square off against Wilcox at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Wilcox comes in on eight and Palma on three.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
