The Mountain View Thunder know all about winning regular seasons. They would love to know more about the playoffs.
Friday night, the Thunder moved one step closer to their first playoff appearance since 2006.
Mountain View rushed for 321 yards, and the Thunder defense got Kelso out of its comfort zone in a 28-7 victory at McKenzie Stadium in a key Class 3A Greater St. Helens League football game.
Mountain View (5-2, 3-1 GSHL) handed Kelso (5-2, 3-1) its first league loss and moved into second place with two league games remaining. The top three teams from the league will advance to the state qualifying round.
“We really need to get into the playoffs,” Mountain View linebacker Dan McCoy said. “We’ve had winning seasons the past … years but that hasn’t cut it. We’re not the underdogs anymore. We’re a physical, hard-hitting team.”
Physical on both sides of the ball, too.
P.J. Jones rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns, Jeff Carmody added a touchdown run and rushed for 100 yards, and Sterling Reynolds just missed the century mark, with 92 yards and a touchdown for the Thunder.
On defense, the Mountain View line won just about every battle. The Hilanders, known for their rushing attack, ended up throwing the ball 28 times, pretty much giving up on the ground game after the first half.
“We knew we could be more physical than them. They’re known for being physical,” McCoy said. “We wanted to smack them in the mouth first, and we did it.”
“We knew what was at stake in this game,” defensive lineman Tyler Gold said. “We stuck our heads in there and stopped them.”
The Thunder set the tone early, too. Kelso gained 16 yards of offense on its first four possession.
Jones had big plays on defense and offense in the first few minutes of the contest. He recovered a Kelso fumble, then scored on a 3-yard run for a quick 7-0 lead.
Carmody capped an 88-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge early in the second quarter for 14-0 lead, setting up the defining series of game.
Kelso responded with its first scoring opportunity, moving the ball to Mountain View’s 10-yard line. But on a fourth-and-2 play from the 10, Gold got past his blocker and stuffed the Kelso running back, giving the ball back to the Thunder.
“It was the scouting report. We kind of had a sense of what was coming after us,” Gold said. “You just have to be ready and know what you have to do.”
Six plays later, Jones was in the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown run, capping a 90-play drive to make it 21-0.
“We just have that fire. We go to our bread and butter. We run the ball,” Jones said. “We hit people, and we run north and south. That’s what we do, and it’s been working.”
Carmody’s 57-yard run was the key play in the series. He gave credit to his linemen.
“They did a great job of sealing the edge and allowing me to get around it,” Carmody said. “It’s really nice when the line sets it up and you really don’t have to do the work. The line does it for us.”
The Mountain View defense held strong early in the third quarter, as well, after Kelso got a little momentum with a turnover. An incomplete pass on fourth down in the red zone gave the ball back to Mountain View.
The Thunder offense responded with another long drive, this time an 86-yarder that ended on Reynolds’ 23-yard touchdown run for a 28-0 lead.
The Hilanders got the lone touchdown of the fourth quarter — a 1-yard run by quarterback Makaio Mobbs — but by then the Thunder had things under control.
“If people have been watching us, our defense is not bad,” Mountain View coach Adam Mathieson said. “All the ink has been Camas, Skyview, and Union. But we’re pretty good, too.”
Kelso rarely throws the ball, but the Hilanders were held to 32 yards on 19 carries in the first half. Kelso threw the ball 21 times in the second half. Cedrique Chaney had a big night, catching seven passes for 125 yards.
Kelso ended up with 205 yards of offense, but only 62 on the ground.
“We’re getting better,” Mathieson said. “If you look at us on film and seen us all year, you would see our kids are playing their best football right now.”
That’s a good thing for the Thunder, as they try to secure a playoff berth. Interestingly, the Thunder have had winning campaigns in each of the past four seasons. The last time they didn’t have a winning season, they still made the playoffs.
This year, they already have the winning regular season. Now, the Thunder are closing in on the postseason.
MOUNTAIN VIEW 28, KELSO 7
Kelso 0 0 0 7—7
Mountain View 7 14 7 0—28
First quarter
MV — P.J. Jones 3 run (Chavo Camargo kick)
Second quarter
MV — Jeff Carmody 1 run (Camargo kick)
MV — Jones 4 run (Camargo kick)
Third quarter
MV — Sterling Reynolds 23 run (Camargo kick)
Fourth quarter
Kel — Makaio Mobbs 1 run (Sam Schmidt kick)
Leaders
Rushing — Kelso: Riley Miller 10-44; Mountain View: Jones 16-136, Carmody 8-100, Reynolds 14-92.
Passing — Kelso: Mobbs 11-28-1-143; Mountain View: Ryan Hansen 2-4-1-17.
Receiving — Kelso: Cedrique Chaney 7-125, Slate Miller 1-8, Ben Warthen 1-8, Chaz Leppert 1-2, R. Miller 1-0; Mountain View: Dean Koba 1-14, Carmody 1-3.
