By no means was this a perfect performance.
Not by the Mountain View Thunder. Not by the Union Titans.
There were turnovers (a number of them) and penalties (a lot of them) in a emotion-filled district-rivalry game.
But in the Titans’ words postgame of a 17-14 nonleague football victory over 3A Mountain View, the second game of the McKenzie Stadium doubleheader, Friday’s squeaker of a win proved to be a reality check.
“That showed us attention to detail is so important,” said Titans senior Jojo Siofele. “As long as we lock in on that, we can be great.”
The Titans admitted they were far from that Friday night, yet two second-half scoring drives and a late-game turnover by the Thunder deep in Union territory was the difference. Christian Alcorn’s 29-yard go-ahead field goal with 2 minutes, 34 seconds left in the game proved to be the winning drive for the Titans.
Siofele, playing on both offense and defense, led Union (1-0) with 107 rushing yards on 11 carries — all coming in the second half after a 7-7 tie at halftime. Mountain View transfer Nile Jones got the start in the backfield, and had 48 of his 63 rushing yards in the first half.
And Siofele had a first-hand look in the secondary on Mountain View’s final offensive series in what it hoped to be its game-winning drive after tying the game at 14-all with 6:44 to play.
Senior quarterback Garrett Moen and the offense orchestrated its best scoring drive with 2:25 to play, and a possession after Union took its 17-14 lead on Alcorn’s field goal. Moen hit receivers Michael Bolds (24 yards), Makai Anderson (11) and Jack Mertens’ 12-yard first-down run put the Thunder at the Union 4. That was the deepest Mountain View got into Union territory since Mertens’ first-quarter touchdown that gave the Thunder an early 7-0 lead.
But a lost fumble ended it hopes of an upset over a 4A Titans team that’s ranked as high as No. 1 in one preseason statewide poll.
This is a Union team that returns many starters on both sides from last season’s 4A Greater St. Helens League title team, and is a top 5-ranked team statewide in a number of preseason polls.
Union’s now won the past three meetings against Mountain View. The difference in the second half Friday for the Titans, Siofele said? They stopped forcing and slowed down.
“We brought it together,” he said, “and got the win.”
Union took a 14-7 lead to open the third quarter on a three-play, 35-yard scoring drive that took 46 seconds, capped by Lincoln Victor’s 3-yard touchdown run. Mountain View answered with 6:44 to play on a misdirection run by Phil Earnhardt leading to a game-tying touchdown.
A penalty-filled second quarter resulted in zero points for both teams and killed a number of drives. No penalty was bigger than Mountain View’s block in the back pushing the Thunder back into a second-and-52 situation. Before that, Mountain View reached the Union 18 on three straight run plays by Tresean Foreman, who finished with two sacks and 72 yards rushing.
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UNION 17, MOUNTAIN VIEW 14
Union 7 0 7 3 – 17
MV 7 0 0 7 0 – 14
First quarter
MV — Jack Mertens 6 run (Aiden Hargrove kick)
U — Nile Jones 5 run (Christian Alcorn kick)
Third quarter
U — Lincoln Victor 3 run (Alcorn kick)
Fourth quarter
MV — Philip Earnhardt 4 run (Hargrove kick)
U — Alcorn 23 FG
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Mountain View — Jack Mertens 21-111, Tresean Foreman 8-72, Garrett Moen 5-8, Andrew Gulliford 1-2, Philip Earnhardt 1-(-2); Union — Jojo Siofele 11-107, Nile Jones 16-63, Lincoln Victor 8-110, Darien Chase 3-(-2).
PASSING: Mountain View — Garrett Moen 14-22-126-1; Union — Lincoln Victor 5-9-58-1
RECEIVING: Mountain View — Philip Earnhardt 3-28, Michael Bolds 3-46, Jack Mertens 1-7, Makai Anderson 5-42, Jordan Cook 1-3; Union — Darien Chase 1-12, Jojo Siofele 2-29, Alishawuan Taylor 2-6, Alex Vallejo 1-11.
