THE SPORTS DESK
Prep football: Mountain View gets back on track against Panthers (WITH VIDEO)
BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH
Mountain View coach Lou Sorrentino was not sure what to make of his team’s uneven start to this season.
After opening with a pair of dominant victories, the Wildcats suffered a pair of losses, including a disheartening two-point setback against Riverbend last week.
But at practice this week, Sorrentino said, the Wildcats showed a different level of focus, a different kind of poise.
“This team,” Sorrentino said, “is pretty resilient.”
And on Friday night, Mountain View took out its recent frustrations on Massaponax.
The Wildcats started the game by scoring 30 consecutive points and finished with a dominating 37–14 victory.
The win saved Mountain View from an 0–3 start in the Commonwealth District and may have saved their season, too.
“This week, we were way more focused than we had been,” Wildcats running back Gordon Collins said.
Mountain View entered the game with plenty of bumps and bruises, but wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton was healthy, and on this night that might have been enough.
Hamilton finished with nine catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns, and he had several dazzling fingertip grabs. Hamilton also closed out the Wildcats’ win with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Sophomore quarterback Elijah Burress completed 17 of 24 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
The Wildcats struck quickly, as Burress set the tone by hitting Hamilton for a 33-yard score less than two minutes into the game.
“It felt good after we got our first touchdown,” Hamilton said. “It was a big start, a big boost, and we knew we were going from there.”
Massaponax seemed to have a flicker of hope in the third quarter, as it scored consecutive touchdowns to pull within 30–14 and then forced a punt.
But the Panthers were unable to pull any closer.
“We were definitely flat,” Panthers coach Eric Ludden said. “I don’t know what the reason was, but Mountain View played a great game.”
Massaponax 0 0 14 0 — 14
Mountain View 13 10 7 7 — 37
First Quarter
MV-D. Hamilton 33-yard pass from E. Burress (D. Fraser kick)
MV-G. Collins 15-yard run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
MV-D. Fraser 29-yard field goal
MV-G. Collins 24-yard pass from E. Burress (D. Fraser kick)
Third Quarter
MV-D. Hamilton 12-yard pass from E. Burress (D. Fraser kick)
Ma-K. Forson 16-yard pass from A. Trice (K. Phelps kick)
Ma-J. Foster 35-yard pass from A. Trice (K. Phelps kick)
Fourth Quarter
MV-D. Hamilton 5-yard run (D. Fraser kick)
TEAMSTATISTICS
Ma MV
First downs11 21
Rushing yardage28-110 41-141
Passing yardage111 262
Passes12-20-1 17-24-0
Punts-Avg.6-33.8 4-43.5
Fumbles-lost2-0 3-1
Penalties-yards9-98 13-110
INDIVIDUALSTATISTICS
Rushing: Mountain View—Gordon Collins 20-108, TD; Elijah Burress 13-18; DaeSean Hamilton 6-12, TD; Greg Hoffman 1-3; Kirron Sleydin 1-0. Massaponax—Javonte Latney 12-72; Joey Foster 6-20; AJ Forbes 5-12; Alphonzo Trice 5-6.
Passing: Mountain View—Elijah Burress 17-24-0 262, 3TD. Massaponax—Alphonzo Trice 12-20-1 111, 2TD.
Receiving: Mountain View—DaeSean Hamilton 9-149, 2TD; Quinton Gray 6-77; Gordon Collins 2-36, TD. Massaponax—Joey Foster 3-42, TD; Kelvin Forson 4-32, TD; AJ Forbes 2-14; Tony Barnett 1-11; Darren Gary 1-7; E.J. Peak 1-5.
Adam Himmelsbach:
540/374-5442
ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com
