Mountain View football clinched one title Friday. Now it eyes a 5A SIC conference crown
A year ago, the Mountain View High football team had to win its final three regular-season games just to make the state playoffs.
The Mavericks have no such concerns this season.
No. 2-ranked Mountain View topped Capital 24-6 on Friday night to clinch the 5A SIC River Division title with one game still left on its schedule.
That division title comes with a load of postseason implications, including a guaranteed playoff berth, a first-round playoff bye and a spot in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference championship game in two weeks.
Not bad for a team that started last year 0-3, the worst start in program history.
“From 0-3 and all the stuff last year, to be able to clinch that and be in the talk for the championship, it’s a great feeling,” Mountain View senior defensive lineman Jackson Beck said. “But we can’t settle. You’ve got to keep moving forward and hopefully get to that state championship.”
MOUNTAIN VIEW DEFENSE STEPS UP
Beck spearheaded another dominant defensive effort from the Mavericks (7-0, 4-0 5A SIC River), finishing with two sacks as Mountain View harassed Capital (5-2, 3-1) quarterback Max Clark all night.
Capital scored its only points when Avery Downey popped free for a 52-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-5 in the second quarter. Downey nearly delivered another back-breaking touchdown, springing loose for a 72-yard catch down the Mountain View 10-yard line late in the third quarter.
But Hank Wemhoff tracked him down from behind to save a touchdown. The Mavericks made a goal-line stand to preserve their 14-6 lead. And Capital never threatened again.
“They didn’t give up when we had our backs against the wall,” Mountain View coach Judd Benedick said. “It’s sometimes easy to do that. … But our guys didn’t do that. They responded and said, ‘We’re going to get after it.’”
Clark finished 17-of-28 for 254 yards with the lone touchdown. But those were well below his state-leading season averages (308 yards, 3.5 TDs per game) entering the night, even as the Eagles went for it on fourth down five times to extend any opportunities they could get.
Capital went 3-for-3 on fourth down in the first half. But the Mavericks turned away both tries in the second half.
ANOTHER BIG NIGHT FOR EVANS
Mountain View continued to showcase its power run game featuring senior Quintez Evans, a converted wide receiver who finished with 33 carries for 169 yards and two TDs.
Capital features one of the 5A SIC’s toughest defensive lines. But it posed no obstacle for Mountain View, which ran for 235 yards at 5 yards per carry.
“Coach (John Taylor), he creates schemes every week, and he studies film like crazy,” Evans said of his offensive line coach. “We’ve seen everything in practice before we even come out here. So our O-line knows what to do, what to expect, and we just follow our rules.”
Capital lost star defensive lineman Josh Summers to an injury in the first quarter. His absence only helped Mountain View dominate the line of scrimmage.
MAVERICKS KEEP ROLLING
Since starting 0-3 last year, Mountain View has won 12 of 13 games.
The Mavericks made a Cinderella run to the state semifinals last year. But they didn’t fly under anyone’s radar this year, entering as the clear preseason favorite in a 5A SIC preseason coaches’ poll.
They’ve backed up the hype so far, scoring wins over all of the conference powers, including Rocky Mountain, Eagle, Meridian and Capital. Friday’s win puts them in position to bring it all home with a conference title in two weeks.
“It means the world because of how hard we’ve been fighting during the offseason, with the adversity we faced last year,” Evans said. “To see us be in this spot is amazing.”
UP NEXT
Mountain View wraps up its 5A SIC River Division schedule next week at Kuna.
Capital takes on rival Borah (4-3, 3-1 5A SIC River), winner of four straight, at Dona Larsen Park. The winner will finish second in the 5A SIC River Division.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 11:50 PM.
