Most people agree that Scotty Brennan is a better basketball player than a quarterback in football.

In a thrilling 35-28 victory against Riordan on Saturday in a Central Coast Section Division 1 quarterfinal, the rangy 6-foot-4, 185-pound left-handed signal caller may change that perception.

Brennan, the son of University of Arizona coach Brent Brennan, broke a 28-28 tie and gave Los Gatos their first lead against a scorching Crusaders team that had won five straight games with 51 seconds remaining when he threw his third touchdown pass, an 18-yard hit to Owen Panu.

Mike Mitchell, a junior quarterback headed to Vanderbilt, is one of them. He led the Crusaders downfield in a hurry before making a last-ditch ball of 26 yards with flawless touch that was intercepted by Cynai Thomas, another standout junior.

The only issue for the Crusaders was that it was three yards out of the end zone and was appropriately declared incomplete, which caused Los Gatos supporters to celebrate wildly.

Yes, Riordan had lost to Los Gatos (10-2) (7-5), but the talent differential this season seemed to be too great. At least eleven Riordan players in the 2025 and 2026 classes are rated as three-star talents by 247Sports.

They include two-way athlete Chris Lawson, who has committed to Washington, Mitchell, Thomas, and three offensive linemen.

Brennan might be the closest thing to Los Gatos, which has none.

With touchdown passes of 19 yards to Panu and 73 yards to Beau Musser, he launched the Los Gatos offense.

For the Wildcats, the reigning state 2-time champions, he finished with over 300 throwing yards.A Northern California champion that graduated most of their best players advanced to play Saint Francis, another West Catholic Athletic League school, in the CCS final game the next week.

Cal-Hi Sports reports that Los Gatos coach Mark Krail, who is in his 26th season, won his 211th game. He and his team called timed plays and pushed all the appropriate buttons.

According to 247Sports, Scott Brennan has been in contact with a few universities, including Arizona, but has not yet received a collegiate offer. The other two are San Jose State, where his father was the first SJS coach to ever lead the Spartans to three bowl games during his six seasons as a coach, and UCLA.

Hearing how wonderfully his kid performed undoubtedly gave Brent Brennan a huge boost, especially after Arizona fell to 4-7 this season after losing to TCU 49-28 on Saturday.

Given how well it had been playing, Riordan found the result to be extremely disheartening.

Led by Vanderbilt-bound junior quarterback Mike Mitchell, the Crusaders had landmark wins over Serra (27-21) and Saint Francis (34-24) among their five. Riordan had no trouble moving the ball against Los Gatos with Mitchell leading the charge along with strong running from junior Adonyae Brown and senior Jeremiah Jones.

Two long passes from Mitchell to Thomas set up a short Jones touchdown to start the game, giving the Crusaders hope for another convincing win.

The rushing duo combined for three touchdowns and over 100 yards each. When Brown answered Brennan s TD bomb to Musser with an 80-yard touchdown run, the Crusaders appeared to have too much firepower, leading 28-20 with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.

But on a beautifully designed counter, Doslak Grayson sprinted home from the 25, and after Brennan s 2-point conversion pass to Panu, the game was tied at 28-28 with 11:01 left.

Riordan went for it near midfield on 4th-and-5, but gained four yards, and Los Gatos took over with 6:09 left. The Wildcats began with a flea flicker for 16, but were stopped on fourth down by a diving Lawson.

This set up Riordan for a potential game-winning touchdown drive, but on third down. The Crusaders fumbled, and Aurelio Valdez recovered at the Riordan 31.

Following a first down, many expected Los Gatos to run out the clock for a walk-off field goal. Instead, Brennan found Panu for his second touchdown catch, and Los Gatos held on from there.

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