Overlooked? Not anymore. Mountain View slays another top-ranked opponent for rivalry win
Few started the season with a more brutal schedule than the Mountain View football team.
But few enter Labor Day with more accomplishments.
The No. 4-ranked Mavericks knocked off No. 3 Rocky Mountain 24-14 in the annual Battle of the Mountains rivalry on Friday, showcasing a ruthless efficiency for their second straight win over a 5A state heavyweight.
“We’re still overlooked,” Mountain View (2-0) senior defensive back Caden Connors said. “... We don’t need the attention. We’re just going to ignore the noise, no matter if it’s good or bad, and do our thing.”
Connors plunged the final dagger in Rocky Mountain’s heart Friday. He jumped in front of a comeback route with 2:43 left, returning it 41 yards for a touchdown just when Rocky Mountain (2-1) appeared to grab all the momentum.
The Grizzlies cut the lead to 17-14 just 2 minutes earlier when Jaryn Ikebe got behind the defense for a 33-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-6. Rocky Mountain then forced a three-and-out, setting the stage for a comeback.
But Connors had other ideas, grabbing his second interception of the fourth quarter.
“He stepped up,” Mountain View senior Owen McBride said. “That’s a big-time play. We always put our trust in him, and he made a play.”
The normally high-flying Mavericks finished the night with just 156 yards of offense and nine first downs, and in the second half they didn’t earn a single first down and turned the ball over twice. But it didn’t need to sustain any long drives because Mountain View’s defense and special teams set it up with prime field position all night.
Boise State commit Martin Connington opened the scoring with a 51-yard field goal. Then Kobi Renner jumped on a muffed punt and the Mavericks stuffed a fake punt deep in Rocky Mountain territory, allowing them to race out to a 17-0 advantage on touchdown runs from Justin McGee and Valentin Gomez-Ricks.
“Our defense played lights out,” coach Brian Compton said. “Especially in the second half.”
Mountain View’s win Friday followed a 31-26 upset of then-No. 3 Meridian, the 5A SIC preseason favorite, last week. Both Meridian and Rocky Mountain started the season in Week 0, giving them an experience advantage early in the season.
But none of it mattered to Mountain View, which has the Battle of the Mountains rivalry trophy, a 3-foot ax, for just the second time since it was created six years ago.
“That’s two good programs, two good wins,” McBride said. “We’re rolling, but we’ve got to take it week by week. We’ve got big games ahead of us.”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN LEADERS
Ikebe hauled in nine passes for 118 yards and a touchdown as the primary target for the Grizzlies.
Senior quarterback Gunnar Thompson finished 17-for-37 for 167 yards with a TD and two interceptions. And Isaiah Reed had 11 tackles, including two tackles-for-loss.
UP NEXT
Mountain View will open its 5A SIC River Division schedule at home Thursday when it takes on Owyhee (2-1, 0-1).
Rocky Mountain will play for another rivalry trophy in the Herb Criner Bowl on Friday at Eagle (2-0).
This story was originally published September 1, 2023 at 10:52 PM.
