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Heading into Friday’s crucial non-league game with Sacred Heart Prep, Mountain View coach Shelley Smith listed three keys to victory:
Establish a ball-control offense.
Check.
Mountain View ran the ball 53 times and had 61 plays from scrimmage to 35 for SHP.
Limit mistakes.
Check.
Mountain View was flagged for only one penalty and had zero turnovers.
Get off to a good start.
Check.
Mountain View took the opening kickoff and went on a 15-play, 81-yard drive to take the lead.
The Spartans never trailed and held on at the end for a 24-21 victory in a game that speaks loudly in regard to the progress the program is making.
“We had to play a perfect game,” Smith said. “This is a huge win. I have so much respect for the Sacred Heart program. To beat a quality team like that took a great effort.”
Mountain View (3-1) rushed for 287 yards. Sophomore Dillon Daniels led the way, carrying 21 times for 100 yards.
“They’re good,” Sacred Heart Prep coach Mark Grieb said. “Everyone has had a hard time stopping that run game. We’re not alone.”
“Our offensive line, they’ve been the key,” Smith said. “We go right through them.”
Smith singled out left tackle Calvin Conaway and center David Lopez for praise, along with massive right tackle Quinton Mastropietro (6-4, 305).
After that early Mountain View touchdown, SHP struck back quickly on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Jack Herrell to Luke Renert.
The Spartans countered with a 60-yard, nine-play drive, all on the ground, that concluded on a 1-yard run by Daniels.
Three possessions into the game and three touchdowns had been scored before the scoring pace slowed down and it was still 14-7 at halftime.
On the Spartans’ first possession of the third quarter they drove to the SHP 5, where on fourth and 4 a Jackson Steffen pass fell incomplete.
The Gators, however, went three and out. Mountain View took over after the punt with good field position at the 44, and proceeded to run the clock with nine rushing plays and took a two-touchdown lead on a 6-yard run by Andre Guimaraes, his second TD of the game.
Again a quick strike, a 65-yard run by Luis Mendoza, brought SHP a score, but Mountain View got a huge lift with a 37-yard field goal by Diego Buntz that made it a two-score lead at 24-14 with 8:31 left.
The Gators went to the air, Herrell completed passes of 19 yards to Renert and 29 yards to Zach Freire to set up a 1-yard run by flyback Luke Maxwell.
SHP needed a stop, but could not come up with one. The MV ground game picked up one first down, then on a fourth and 2 play a SHP defender jumped offside, giving the Spartans a first down, and allowing them to run out the clock.
“Our team will learn from it and get better,” Grieb said.”There were a lot of positives from this game. I love our kids’ competitiveness. We’re a young team. We haven’t been in those fourth and 2 situations with the game on the line before.”
In addition to the 100 yards picked up by Daniels, Mountain View also benefited from 69 yards rushing by Min Kant, 58 from Drake Wilkening and 48 from Steffen.
“This is huge,” Steffen said. “We lost one to Mitty and that stung. But the coaches said we had our best week of practice. We gave full effort and it showed.”
Herrell completed 7 of 15 passes for 177 yards for SHP. Andrew Latu, Mendoza and Freire combined for 142 yards rushing on 16 carries.
