Don’t look now, but Mountain View might be ready to make some noise once again in the East Valley.
After dropping their first two games of the season, the Toros have won three straight to get above the .500 mark at the halfway mark of the season, with the latest victory a 52-7 thrashing of visiting Westwood in a Division I game Friday night.
"We’re getting better, and that’s the big thing right now, just continuing to get better,” Mountain View coach Chad DeGrenier said.
The Toros' success on offense Friday night was in large part due to a fast-paced, two-quarterback system that didn’t let the Warriors' defense catch its breath.
“They don’t know what to expect,” Mountain View quarterback John Clark said. “We’re a good running team and a good passing team.”
Mountain View’s offense ran a total of 65 plays and didn’t punt once.
"We’re starting to click,” DeGrenier said. “Both of those guys, Chase (Funk) and John, are doing a great job orchestrating their role on the offense.”
Clark completed 19 of 28 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice.
When Clark wasn’t airing it out, Funk was leading the team's ground attack. The Toros produced 238 total yards on the ground, with a big chunk of that coming from Weston Birtcher, who ran for 67 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries. Funk ran for 34 yards and one touchdown on six carries.
Not to be outdone, the Mountain View defense played fast and furious as well, never letting the Westwood offense get into a rhythm.
“The defense, the big thing about it, you know, is when the offense gives everybody energy and the defense is starting to step up and play out that energy that we’re providing them,” DeGrenier said.
Westwood’s running backs tried to get to the outside frequently but were always met by a stingy Mountain View defense.
“You know, we worked both on the inside and outside, and our guys have just really started to play sound defense,” DeGrenier said.
Westwood’s only score of the game came on a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ty Dale in the second quarter. It marked the second time this season Mountain View’s defense posted a shutout. The Toros also didn’t allow Skyline’s offense to score back in Week 3.
The loss was Westwood's fourth in a row, dropping the Warriors to 1-4 at the midpoint of the year. They'll try to snap their losing streak when they host Mesa on Friday.
Coincidentally, this marks the third year in a row the Toros have reached the 3-2 mark after starting the year 0-2. Last season, they also went over the .500 mark thanks to a big win over Westwood in Week 5.
In 2011, however, a four-game losing streak followed. It was a streak that started with a big loss to Pinnacle, the same team Mountain View will face next Friday night.
"They’re undefeated coming in, and it’s going to be a big test for us,” DeGrenier said.
Mountain View 52, Westwood 7
MV – Bustillos 31 FG
MV – Birtchter 1 run (Bustillos kick)
MV – Brown 14 run (Bustillos kick)
WW – Dale 30 INT return (Castelan kick)
MV – Brown 53 pass from Clark (Bustillos kick)
MV – Funk 6 run (Bustillos kick)
MV – Birtchter 5 run (Bustillos kick)
MV – Birtchter 21 run (Bustillos kick)
MV – Nielsen 5 run (Bustillos kick)
WW MV
First Downs 12 19
Rush-Yds. 36-77 38-238
Pass Yds. 99 228
Comp-Att-Int 7-15-1 19-28-2
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds 3-20 10-80
msa posted at 5:17 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Yes a solid performance against another team like skyline. True. We will see just how much better this team is when they face Pinnacle / Red mnt / Mnt Point. Highland has improved so that could be a close one and Mesa....well they just lost to Dobson so thats another freebie game.....4 and 6 or 5 and 5 at best. Hope they play hard at Pinnacle and do well...we will see.
observer4 posted at 4:50 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
i think their ceiling is at 6-4 with the only unwinnable games being red mtn and mtn pointe
MesaNative1 posted at 5:59 pm on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
Lets keep it real, the Toros continue to improve, but have yet to play a good team and win. Pinnacle will show us where this program is right now. The Toros are working hard, just need to get better.