According to most accounts, Scotty Brennan is a better basketball player than a football quarterback.
That opinion may change after the rangy 6-foot-4, 185-pound left-handed signal caller led overmatched Los Gatos to a thrilling 35-28 win over Riordan on Saturday in a Central Coast Section Division 1 semifinal game.
Brennan, the son of University of Arizona coach Brent Brennan, threw his third touchdown pass, an 18-yard strike to Owen Panu with 51 seconds left, breaking a 28-28 tie and giving Los Gatos its first lead against a hot Crusaders team that had won five consecutive games.
Among them is Vanderbilt-bound junior quarterback Mike Mitchell, who quickly drove the Crusaders downfield before his final gasp, a 26-yard pass with perfect touch caught by another top junior, receiver Cynai Thomas.
The Crusaders’ only problem was that it was three yards out of the end zone and correctly ruled incomplete, resulting in a wild celebration among Los Gatos fans.
Yes, Los Gatos (10-2) had defeated Riordan (7-5), but this season’s talent gap appeared to be too large. 247Sports ranks at least ten Riordan players in the 2025 and 2026 classes as three-star prospects.
Mitchell, Thomas, three offensive linemen, and two-way athlete Chris Lawson, who has committed to Washington, are among them.
In comparison, Los Gatos has none, and Brennan may be the closest thing.
He started Los Gatos’ offense with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Panu and a 73-yard touchdown pass to Beau Musser.
He finished with more than 300 yards passing for the Wildcats, the defending state 2-A Northern California champion who graduated the majority of their top talent advanced to next week’s CCS championship game against Saint Francis, another West Catholic Athletic League team.
Mark Krail, the veteran Los Gatos coach in his 26th season, won his 211th game, according to Cal-Hi Sports. He and his staff pressed all of the right buttons and called timely plays.
Though Scott Brennan doesn’t have a college offer yet, according to 247Sports, he has been talking to a couple schools, including Arizona. The others are UCLA and San Jose State, where his dad coached for six seasons and led the Spartans to three bowl games, the first SJS coach to ever do so.
Considering Arizona dropped to 4-7 this season following Saturday’s 49-28 loss to TCU, Brent Brennan no doubt got a big boost hearing how well his son played.
For Riordan, it was a very disappointing loss, especially considering how well it had been playing.
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.
