Spartans in full gallop Spartans in full gallop (September 16, 2005)

Passing, running, defense all in sync in MVHS's 34-7 opener over Gunn

By Scott Campbell

Behind three touchdowns by Brandon Hamilton and a stellar debut by Trevor Campbell, Mountain View rolled to a 34-7 victory over Gunn on Sept. 9. The host Spartans took control of this season opener by scoring touchdowns on each of their first three possessions and used an effective running game and a solid defensive effort to frustrate the Titans all afternoon.

"It felt really nice," said Campbell, a sophomore wide receiver who had the crowd buzzing with a breakout performance in his first varsity game. "We were all a little nervous, but getting this one off our backs, it's going to be a great rest of the season."

On back-to-back plays during the game's opening drive, Mountain View (1-0) set the tone for a day in which it would dominate with the big play. Facing a third down just shy of midfield, Spartans quarterback Jason Griego connected with Campbell on a 26-yard pass, bringing the team to Gunn's 26-yard line.

On the very next play, Hamilton, a junior tailback, took a handoff to the right, evading oncoming tacklers by doing a complete spin before bolting to the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

The score stood at 6-0 with 10:04 remaining in the first quarter as Alex Shefveland's point-after attempt was blocked.

After Mountain View's defense maintained the team's momentum by stuffing the Titans' bold fourth-down attempt at the Spartans' 12-yard line, the offense resumed right where it had left off.

Campbell, 6'0" and 160 lbs., again showed his importance in making Mountain View more than just a ball-control, running team. Catching a third-down pass from Griego at the 30-yard line, the sophomore raced down the field. After fellow wideout Terence Willis leveled a Titans defender with a great open-field block, Campbell sprinted all the way to the Gunn 15-yard line, completing a 69-yard play.

"It was a really nice throw, really nice blocks by everybody and I just started running and everything went well," said Campbell, who recorded 4 receptions for 135 yards.

Fittingly, it was Campbell who notched the touchdown at the 11:10 mark in the second quarter, juggling but holding onto a 12-yard pass that Griego delivered as he was knocked to the field by Gunn pass-rushers.

A successful 2-point conversion run by Mountain View's Shane Bounos pushed the lead to 14-0.

Once Griego found Hamilton for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 4:38 remaining before halftime, the Spartans took a controlling 21-0 lead.

Gunn's almost entirely run-based offense finally broke through as Tucker Laurence burst up the middle on a quarterback sneak for a 9-yard touchdown. But that score and the ensuing point-after by Andrew Hopkins would be the only blemishes on the Spartans defense all afternoon.

Emerging from halftime with a 21-7 lead, Mountain View used a run defense anchored by nose tackle Michael Medlock to hold Titans running back Cory Babbington and the Gunn offense to just four first downs in the second half.

Meanwhile, Mountain View's tailback tandem of Hamilton and senior Alec Nelson continued to chew up the clock and was entirely responsible for the team's 61-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter.

Though on another day it may well be Nelson who carries the scoring load, this was Hamilton's game. The junior, who rushed 16 times for 125 yards, scampered up the middle for a 5-yard score, his third touchdown of the day.

"It feels pretty good," said the soft-spoken Hamilton, who credited his offensive line for paving the way for the Mountain View backs. "We should come out next week just the same."

Strong safety Shane Cooney put the final touchdown on the board for the Spartans when he alertly scooped up a fumble deep in Mountain View territory and found nothing but green in front of him. The sophomore's 80-yard touchdown return with 7:06 remaining in the game and Shefveland's point-after provided the final 34-7 margin.

"They executed, we didn't," said Gunn coach Sam Picture, whose team fell to 0-1. "That's really all there is to it. They definitely made some more big plays than we did, that's for sure."

Despite the resounding win, Mountain View coach Dan Navarro cautioned against getting too excited just yet.

"We've got a lot of things to work on," said Navarro, who knows his team needs to step up its level of play as it moves up to the De Anza Division this season. "I think we can be much more aggressive than we were. We had moments of good play and then we had moments of kind of sloppy play, which is kind of indicative of [it being] early in the season."

With two more pre-season games remaining before opening their league season against powerhouses Wilcox and Los Gatos, the Spartans were happy to dispense with Gunn and hopeful that the victory will be a stepping stone as they establish their identity.

"This was good, but we need to keep improving," said Griego, a junior who completed 6 of 8 passes for 176 yards and 2 touchdowns to take the early lead in a battle with sophomore Jeff Jalaba to be named the Spartans full-time quarterback. "We're going to be playing harder and harder teams every week."

Mountain View plays Menlo at Menlo College on Sept. 17 before hosting Los Altos on Sept. 24.

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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