Sep 7, 2008

Heartache for Menlo in overtime

Souza gains 111 yards on ground, catches five passes and scores a TD

By Julio Lara / Daily News Correspondent

If football awarded points for effort, Menlo College would have won Saturday's season opener against visiting Wisconsin-Stout.

As it stands, the Oaks suffered the fate of a young team undergoing growing pains, losing in heart-breaking fashion, 13-10 in overtime.

"First and foremost, the effort of our players, it's night and day," Menlo coach Mark Kaanapu said. "I can see that this group of players has matured."

The Oaks couldn't help but look a little dejected after the game. Their effort wasn't enough as Craig Warminske dove into the end zone to cap a 3-yard touchdown run, topping the Oaks' 21-yard field goal to come away with the victory.

Menlo allowed 324 yards of offense to Stout, but late in the game the Oaks made a couple of huge plays on defense and special teams to preserve a 7-7 tie stemming from two first-half touchdowns.

The plays, an interception and two blocked field goals, appeared to give Menlo the momentum needed to put up the go-ahead points. But while the defense and special teams stepped up, the Oaks suffered a setback on offense and continuously shot themselves in foot.

Menlo was penalized 10 times for 102 yards, but the price was steeper than just a football field of yardage. The penalties came at the costliest times, none more expensive than an illegal-procedure penalty in overtime that negated a Shaun Souza touchdown and forced the Oaks to settle for a field goal. The four points were the difference between in the game.

"That tests the courage of our players," Kaanapu said when asked what it would take to fix all of the mental mistakes by the Oaks. "When you're an athlete, you either perform or you don't. We have to find a way to get it done."

Stout's only touchdown, a 16-yard play-action strike in the first quarter was a result of a pass-interference penalty on fourth and 8 a play before. In addition, three different Menlo drives had the momentum taken out of them by a penalty.

The Oaks showed their youth on offense. Their quarterback duo of Angel Molina and Tony Rehn combined for 13-of-31 passing for a lean 92 yards and an interception. While it might be easy to point to the quarterback position, the Menlo receivers lacked concentration on a couple of sure-fire catches turned incompletions.

"We still have young quarterbacks in our system," Kaanapu said. "The miscues on offense, the lack of attention to details. We can't have that. The missed opportunities, those are plays that need to be made."

It might be hard to find the silver lining after such a heart-breaking loss, but Menlo had its bright spots. No one shined brighter than Souza, who bulldozed his way through the Stout defense for 111 yards rushing on 23 carries. He also caught five passes for 35 yards to lead the Oaks in both categories. He scored Menlo's lone touchdown on a 2-yard dive in the second quarter that tied the game at seven after the extra point. Souza touched the ball five out of the eight plays in that drive.

The whole defense can take a bow for Menlo. While they were responsible for surrendering the game-winning score, the cliche "bend but not break" fit the Oaks. Justin Weise led the way with 10 tackles and Ricky Jordan wasn't far behind with 6 1/2. Jordan also had an interception after reading a pump-and-go route to perfection.

On special teams, Robbie Fritts blocked two fourth-quarter field goal attempts by Stout - the latter coming with 24 seconds left on the clock, guaranteeing at least overtime for Menlo.

"We're going to have to bounce back next week," Kaanapu said. "It was a good, hard-fought football game."