Thunder hope to avenge last year’s 17-0 defeat
VANCOUVER — The Mountain View Thunder get to the postseason on a regular basis. Not every year, but enough that it is not unusual. This is Mountain View’s 12th trip to the postseason since the turn of the century.
But what makes this team’s trip to state noteworthy is it is the first time getting to state in back-to-back years since the program went to state four consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2004.
That Week 10 playoff game has not been a guarantee for the Thunder.
But the Thunder did get back-to-back state qualifying victories in 2016 and 2017. Congrats to the Thunder.
Next:
The Thunder remember these guys.
Peninsula is returning to the scene.
Yep, Mountain View (8-2) will take on Peninsula for the second consecutive season in the first round of the Class 3A state football playoffs. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium.
A year ago, Peninsula shutout Mountain View 17-0.
Peninsula (7-3) beat Snohomish last week 45-27 to advance to state. Peninsula led 38-0 at one point.
Burke Griffin threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for Peninsula in Week 10. Braedon Potter rushed for 147 yards.
But don’t be surprised if another running back has the most yards in the next game. The Seahawks use a running back-by-committee approach.
“This will be our fourth matchup in the last 10 years and second consecutive year that we have matched up in the postseason. They look like the same to me,” Mountain View coach Adam Mathieson said. “The cast of characters changes, but the general formula is the same. They are well coached, disciplined, and play hard. We are anticipating a great high school football game.”
Winning Week 10:
The Thunder rushed for 286 yards in its win over Lake Washington. Glen Perry Jr. led the way with 243 yards.
“That’s good to hear,”Mathieson said. “You get into November, you get in cold weather, playing good teams, the yards are hard to come by. That’s a pretty good number in November.”
The Mountain View defense took down the Lake Washington quarterback for a loss on four of his six rushing attempts. (Three were sacks. In high school football, sacks go down as rushing yards.)
The key moments from this game came toward the end of the first half.
Mountain View scored on a Perry touchdown run with 1:19 to play for a 14-3 lead. Jack Mertens then intercepted a pass, leading to another Mountain View touchdown. Tyrell Hall scored on a 12-yard run with 34 seconds left in the half and a 21-3 lead.
Two touchdowns in a 45-second span pretty much was all the momentum the Thunder needed.
Another week to hang out:
The Thunder want to keep winning not just for the obvious reasons — to advance in the playoffs. But to simply keep hanging out together, to extend the season because they like each other.
“Team 37 is a fun team,” Mathieson said, referring to this, the 37th team in program history. “They are low maintenance and high reward as they simply go about their business on a daily basis. They continue to get better each week, and there is still room for development and improvement.
“It seems like each week another performer does something to alter the course of a game, and that is an exciting part of high school athletics.”
Predictions:
The folks at Cascadia Preps have made their final four picks in each classification. Two humans plus the ScoreCzar computer picks are on the site. You can look for yourself. Interestingly, one picks Mountain View to make it at least to the semifinals.
This is a great, new site for state-wide football coverage: www.cascadiapreps.com
