Mountain View rolls past Fort Vancouver

Scoring on offense, on defense and on special teams, the Mountain View Thunder made quick work of Fort Vancouver on Friday at Kiggins Bowl.

The 64-0 win improved Mountain View (4-3 overall) to 3-0 atop the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League. Fort Vancouver (1-6 overall) is 0-3 in league play.

All 64 points were scored in the first half.

The one-sided score reflected Mountain View’s domination at the line of scrimmage.

Of Fort Vancouver’s 30 offensive snaps in the first half (not including punts), 16 plays went for negative yards. The result was a negative 75 yards of net offense for the Trappers in the first half. And the Thunder scored three touchdowns on defense.

There were five quarterback sacks by the Thunder in the first half, one of them resulting in a touchdown when Mountain View’s Thai Hindman recovered a fumble in the end zone.

Mountain View coach Adam Mathieson said execution allowed his defense to make plays in the Fort Vancouver backfield.

“When you do your job within the scheme then good things are going to happen,” Mathieson said.

Mountain View scored on two of its first three offensive plays, then added a 37-yard punt return touchdown from Darien Chase and the Hindman fumble recovery for touchdowns in the first quarter.

The trend continued in the second quarter and was capped by three Mountain View touchdowns in the final 2:10 of the first half, the last two an 18-yard interception return by Mitchell Delmage and a 50-yard fumble return by Philip Earnhardt.

Mathieson said his young team gained a lot of experience in early-season losses to Class 4A teams Union, Battle Ground and Skyview.

“We’re pleased with the growth of the team,” Mathieson said. “Week 7 and the kids are starting to understand how to take their preparation during the week into the game on Friday.”

Nine different Mountain View players reached the end zone, beginning with a swing pass that Michael Bolds took 44 yards for a touchdown on the first Thunder snap.

That turned out to be the longest offensive play of the game for Mountain View, a reflection of the field position the Thunder enjoyed.

Fort Vancouver coach Cal Szueber was impressed with the Thunder. He called Mountain View the best team the Trappers have faced this season.

With a running clock in the second half, each team had only three possessions. Fort Vancouver had a first down at the Mountain View 8 midway through the fourth quarter after a 32-yard run by TJ Willingham, but a fumble on the next play — the last of six Trappers turnovers — ended that opportunity.

After consecutive road games, Mountain View returns to McKenzie Stadium next Friday to host Prairie. Fort Vancouver meets rival Hudson’s Bay for the annual Peace Pipe Game next Friday at Kiggins Bowl. The Trappers should have a few more players available than the 26 in uniform against Mountain View, according to Szueber.

“We have some great kids in our program,” Szueber said. “We have two weeks left. We want to finish the season better than when we started.”

MOUNTAIN VIEW 64, FORT VANCOUVER 0

Mt. View 29 35 0 0–64

Fort 0 0 0 0– 0

First quarter

MV — Michael Bolds 44 pass from Andre Scheer (Payton Regas pass from Darien Chase)

MV — Sean Delmage 37 run (Bryan Valdez kick)

MV — Darien Chase 37 punt return (Valdez kick)

MV — Thai Hindman fumble recovery in end zone (Valdez kick)

Second quarter

MV — Rodolofo Montiel 28 pass from Scheer (Valdez kick)

MV — Nile Jones 8 run (Valdez kick)

MV — Tresean Foreman 25 run (kick)

MV — Mitchell Delmage 18 interception return (Valdez kick)

MV — Philip Earnhardt 50 fumble return (Valdez kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Mountain View: Nile Jones 4-40, Sean Delmage 2-43, Colton Drake 3-15, Tyrell Hall 6-20, Keshawn Robinson 3-4, Foreman 1-25, Garrett Moen 1-11, Ryan Blaize 3-(minus 12) Kaleb Kier 1-(minus 2). Fort: TJ Willingham 20-39, Erik Coppinger 5-(minus 46), Cruz Holiman 2-(minus 8), Bobby Shephard 2-0, Kyron Lowe-Ashe 2-(minus 12).

PASSING — Mountain View: Andre Scheer 4-10-0-116. Fort: Erik Coppinger 4-7-1-(minus 10),Lowe Ashe 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING — Mountain View: Darien Chase 1-11 Jack Mertens 1-33, Montiel 1-28, Michael Bolds 1-44. Fort: TJ Willingham 2-(minus 5), Holiman 1-(minus 1), Nehemiah Polk-Rasheed 1-(minus 4) .