Skyview did something to Mountain View on Friday at McKenzie Stadium that few teams have been able to do this season.
The Storm turned the running Thunder into a passing team.
But that did not stop Mountain View.
Freshman Darien Chase caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Colin Biggs with 3:59 to play to tie the game. Then after a Skyview fumble deep in Mountain View territory, the Thunder drove downfield to beat the Storm 25-22 on Biggs’ 20-yard field goal with one second to play.
“Teams have to defend against our pass and our run,” Biggs said. “We’ve got outstanding running backs, and our line did a great job of giving me time to get that pass to Darien.”
In the first half, the Thunder were their dominating selves running the ball.
Mountain View ran 25 plays in the second quarter to Skyview’s six.
But two long drives by the Thunder only resulted in one touchdown, a 2-yard run by Taj Albeck that gave the Thunder a 15-8 lead going into halftime.
Then Skyview flipped the switch in the second half. After forcing the Thunder into a punt on their first possession of the third quarter, Brody Barnum hit Jeremiah Wright for a 59-yard touchdown pass play on Skyview’s first play of the second half, knotting the game at 15 with 8:35 left in the third quarter.
The Storm forced two more punts from the Thunder in the third quarter, helping the Storm take their first lead at 22-15 on Blake Ingram’s 5-yard touchdown run with 10:05 remaining in the game.
“They came out blitzing their linebackers in the second half,” Albeck said. “We just needed our line to come up with a couple of key blocks. It’s all about practice and execution.”
The Thunder defense came up with a big stop midway through the fourth quarter. But Mountain View found itself with a fourth-and-7 at its own 48-yard line with a little more than four minutes to play.
The game was on the line when Biggs found Chase down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown play.
“Darien — we’re blessed to have him. Great freshman,” Biggs said. “We’ve been working on that all week in practice: deep balls to Darien. Just give him a chance to get under it and catch it.”
Skyview appeared to be on a march to victory, moving from its own 20 to inside the Mountain View 25 before the Thunder defense forced a fumble and recovered it on their own 11 with 1:11 left.
Preston Jones, who had a 72-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then broke free on a 53-yard run to the Skyview 35. A 14-yard pass to Chase and a 10-yard run by Jones gave the Thunder the ball on the Skyview 3 with four seconds to go, setting up Biggs for the winning kick.
Even though he missed a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter, the Thunder were not worried this time.
“We have the utmost confidence in Colin,” Albeck said. “We practice field goals from 45 yards down to 5 yards. We knew Colin could do it.”
“Yes, yes,” Chase said of his confidence in Biggs. “100 percent, 110 percent.”
Biggs sent his kick through the uprights with one second left. A hectic kickoff return by Skyview with multiple pitches ended inside the Storm’s own 20, and the Thunder had sealed the win.
Jones finished with 254 yards rushing on 27 carries. Biggs completed 10 of 17 passes for 141 yards, and Chase had seven catches for 113 yards.
It was a tough loss for the Storm, who were led by Ingram’s 140 yards rushing. Barnum passed for 173.
But the celebrations in the end went to the Thunder.
“This is a 12 — 12 out a 10,” Biggs said of the win. “It’s phenomenal.”
MOUNTAIN VIEW 25, SKYVIEW 22
Sky 0 8 7 7–22
MView 8 7 0 10–25
First quarter
MV–Preston Jones 72 run (Troy Pacheco pass from Jones)
Second quarter
Sky–Brody Barnum 4 run (Barnum run)
MV–Taj Albeck 2 run (Colin Biggs kick)
Third quarter
Sky–Jeremiah Wright 59 pass from Barnum (Braden Hadfield kick)
Fourth quarter
Sky-Blake Ingram 5 run (Hadfield kick)
MV–Darien Chase 52 pass from Biggs (Biggs kick)
MV–Biggs 20 FG
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — Skyview: Ingram 25-140, Josh Seynaeve 2-5, Hayden Froeber 3-5, Barnum 1-4. Mountain View: Jones 27-254, Albeck 18-83, Brandon Walker 9-30, Semisi Schultz 1-1, Biggs 2-0.
PASSING — Skyview: Barnum 8-17-0-173. Mountain View: Biggs 10-17-0-141.
RECEIVING — Skyview: Skyler Martin 3-42, Jeremiah Ingram 2-80, Travis Yajko 1-9, Hadfield 2-50. Mountain View: Chase 7-113, Walker 1-11, Albeck 1-8, Armen Markaryan 1-9.
