Toros gain confidence with win over Brown Road rival
WEEKLY BLOG: 10/16/20
In Mountain View's first two games, it was the offense making the headlines with back-to-back 40-point efforts. On Friday night at Jesse Parker Field, it was the defense of the Toros making life miserable for Red Mountain's offense when the visitors reached the red zone in a 16-13 win over the Lions.
Mountain View (3-0) is unbeaten through three games for the first time since 2016, head coach Mike Fell's first year with the school. That year was also the last time the Toros won the "Battle of Brown Road" against its rivals from seven miles east.
"The key tonight was our defense," Fell said. "Lights out. Stopping them when we had to. Getting a couple turnovers that way."
Red Mountain (1-2) entered the red zone four times, but came away with just one touchdown. The other three possessions ended with a fumble, a missed field goal, and on downs.
On its very first possession, Mountain View went 58 yards in 10 plays capping it with a one-yard run up the middle by junior quarterback Willy Roberts. A missed PAT kept the score at 6-0.
The Toros run a no-huddle up-tempo offense and moved the ball 93 yards in less than four minutes. Early in the second quarter, Mountain View prolonged the drive by converting a fourth-and-seven with a completion from Roberts to sophomore tight end Jackson Boyd-Bowers. The scoring play came from a formation with three backs. The handoff went to senior running back Reese Marziale, who took it in from the 2-yard line.
"We've got fast guys on the outside with Tanner (Johnson) and Nico (Remus)," Boyd-Bowers said. "Our insides, Jade (Espinoza) and me, the seams were wide open."
One of the plays on that drive was a pass to junior Malaki Ta'ase, who also plays defensive end.
Ta'ase, who is 6-2 and 240 pounds, showed why he's a defensive lineman that people need to be talking about when he recovered a fumble on a bad exchange on a handoff when the Mountain Lions were at the Toro 10-yard line.
"Malaki Ta'ase is a Division I talent," Fell said. "He's a bigtime player."
Red Mountain got back into the game with a deep ball. Evan Svoboda launched a pass and found senior Anthony Carrington along the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown. It was the Lions' longest pass play of the night.
Mountain View threatened for more at the end of the half, but a touchdown was erased by a holding penalty and then the Toros missed a field goal as time expired.
The Mountain Lions trailed 13-7 at the break despite committing 10 penalties in the half for 72 yards (13 for 92 in the game). Also, the RMHS defense was on the field for 38 plays in the half while running just 21.
Fell was confident enough in his defense to try a fake punt on fourth-and-two from his own 28-yard line. The pass was incomplete giving the Lions a short field. Red Mountain reached the 7, but missed a field goal attempt.
On its very next drive, Red Mountain reached the 16-yard line of the Toros and went for it on fourth-and-11. The Lions completed a short pass, but were stopped well short of the first down.
After a third quarter full of defense, the score remained at 13-7.
After chasing the Toros all night, Red Mountain finally caught them with an eight-yard strike from Svoboda to senior George Ramirez, who rolled into the end zone. The score was tied however, after the extra-point kick was wide.
For Mountain View, Roberts completed 22-of-33 passes for 240 yards. His longest completion was 44 yards to senior Tanner Johnson to get to the 10-yard line. Johnson caught eight passes for 119 yards.
A pair of holding penalties pushed the Toros back to the 25-yard line. It was from there that kicker Jesus Garcia booted a 42-yard field goal to put MVHS back on top with just over eight minutes remaining.
Red Mountain gave itself one more opportunity when Tyler Kade-Brown recovered a fumble in its own territory with less than three minutes to go. However, that drive ended with the Lions committing their second turnover. It was an interception by senior safety Peyton Eastwood, who was playing with a cast on his arm.
"I just read the play," Eastwood, who broke his hand before the Toros' first game, said. "The quarterback underthrew it. I was able to jump in and seal the game for us."
Eastwood hasn't missed a game playing with the club and is planning to have it off for next week's game at Desert Vista (0-3).
For Red Mountain, this was head coach Mike Peterson's first loss to a Mesa Public Schools team in his three-plus years at the helm. The Lions were 16-0 against its fellow district teams.
Svoboda got into a rhythm, completing nine consecutive passes at one point. For the game, he was 16-of-25 for 152 yards.
Both run defenses were up to the task as no player rushed for more than 50 yards.
Red Mountain begins 6A Fiesta Region play next Friday at home against Desert Ridge (1-2).
For Mountain View, the schedule sets up well. The Toros' next three games are against Desert Vista, Westwood, and Mountain Pointe. All three teams are currently 0-3. It's entirely possible MVHS and Corona del Sol could find themselves both at 7-0 heading into a Week 8 showdown at Toro Stadium with an Open Division berth on the line.
Having the experience of last year's playoff upset win at Brophy along with a big group of seniors already had the Toros believing. A win like this can raise that even higher. In the last three seasons, in all levels, only the 2018 JV team from Mountain View defeated Red Mountain.
"We were confident coming in," Fell said. "We felt we've been playing pretty well. We've got 34 seniors and they've been a quality group."
First Quarter:
MV - Willy Roberts 1 yard run (run failed), 6:34
Second Quarter:
MV - Reese Marziale 2 yard run (Jesus Garcia kick), 9:44
RM - Anthony Carrington 33 yard pass from Evan Svoboda (Luke Evans kick), 3:02
Third Quarter:
No Scoring
Fourth Quarter:
RM - George Ramirez 8 yard pass from Svoboda (kick failed), 10:10
MV - Garcia 42 yard FG, 8:23
