The phrase “strength in numbers” rings true for the Mountain View Thunder.
Especially on a hot Saturday when temperatures rose to as high as 94 degrees at the start of the fourth quarter in Clark County’s final game to kickoff the 2017 high school football season. Glass jars of pickles were ready in coolers. So were ice-water bins ready for players to dunk their helmets to keep cool.
It got hot on McKenzie Stadium’s turf.
“We’re still going to play as hard as we can,” senior Glen Perry, Jr. said.
That Thunder depth went a long way, too, in Saturday’s 34-7 victory over the Ferris of Spokane, as five players scored touchdowns and six carried the ball to give the program its 199th victory. Next week, it goes for No. 200 against Union at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McKenzie Stadium.
Perry, an all-league running back in 2016, made his debut at quarterback for Mountain View (1-0), and did the majority of his work in the rushing game.
He led the rushing attack with a game-high 123 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter for what would be 21 unanswered points. That drive included a 41-yard run by Perry — his longest of the game — on a third-and-8 play.
Perry drew praised from coach Adam Mathieson orchestrating the offense Saturday, including a clock-eating 12-play, 83-yard opening touchdown drive capped by Jack Mertens’ 16-yard touchdown run. Mitchell Delmage (14-yard receiving touchdown), Michael Urruchua (19-yard rushing touchdown) also had scored Saturday.
That was part of a third quarter that Perry called a tone setter, but what he called the “play of the game” came from corner Michael Bolds.
Just minutes after Perry’s score, Bolds intercepted Ferris quarterback Tom Kirby and ran it back 47 yards for the defensive score. He also had a pass deflection as part of plenty of defensive highlights by the Thunder, which held Ferris to 75 total yards.
“Our defense was stopping everybody; they couldn’t go anywhere,” Bolds said. “Our defense was the best.”
Saturday was the first game back for two running backs — Urruchua and Sean Delmage — who both suffered season-ending injuries at McKenzie Stadium last season. They’re part of a quality depth at running back that Mathieson’s excited to see this season.
“We feel like we’re two to three deep at running back,” Mathieson said, “and that’s a good thing.”
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MOUNTAIN VIEW 34, FERRIS 7
Ferris 0 7 0 0 – 7
Mtn View 7 7 14 6 – 34
First quarter
MV — Jack Mertens 16 run (kick good)
Second quarter
MV — Michael Urruchua 19 run (kick good)
F — Brock Bozett 2 pass from Tom Kirby (kick good)
Third quarter
MV — Glen Perry, Jr. 4 run (kick good)
MV — Michael Bolds 47 INT return (kick good)
Fourth quarter
MV — Mitchell Delmage 14 yard pass from Perry, Jr. (kick failed)
Individual statistics
RUSHING — MV: Glen Perry, Jr. 15-123; Nile Jones 14-77; Sean Delmage 8-38; Jack Mertens 5-51; Michael Urruchua 6-65; Payton Regas 1-2. F: Eric Mast 15-3; Tom Kirby 4-4; Tagen Cliff 2-(minus-3)
PASSING — MV: Glen Perry, Jr. 7-15-0-91; F: Tom Kirby 13-22-1-69
RECEIVING — MV: Michael Bolds 3-18; Mitchell Delmage 2-24; Makai Anderson 2-46; Nile Jones 1-3. F: Ben Taylor 3-23; Brock Bozett 8-20; Eli Jackson 1-19; Michor Gentemann 1-7
