Defense sets tone in Mountain View’s win over Fort Vancouver

The Mountain View defense held Fort Vancouver to seven yards in the first half, and the Thunder offense took advantage of that field position for an easy victory Thursday in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League.

Justin Rinta, Michael Rivers, and Riley O’Dell scored first-half touchdowns, and the Thunder put away the Trappers 47-0 at McKenzie Stadium.

Mountain View (4-2, 2-1 GSHL) rushed for 291 yards and rarely had to go long fields for its seven touchdowns.

Fort Vancouver (0-6, 0-3) managed 75 yards of offense for the game, most coming in the final minutes of a running clock.

With the Trappers struggling all season, the Thunder knew they were likely going to win long before the game began. Yet, they tried to keep the intensity up in preparation for tougher games ahead in the schedule.

“All week we practiced like it was against any other team,” Mountain View defensive lineman Jacob Mitchell said. “Play as one, and treat it just like it was against any other team.”

Mitchell and Josh Stolz had back-to-back sacks early in the game to help set the tone for the Thunder.

“We just gotta focus on ourselves no matter who the opponent is,” Stolz said. “That’s been our basis since we started playing football. Focus on ourselves, and the blue hats determine the game.”

A lot of blue helmets found the end zone Thursday.

Rivers led the attack with 91 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns. Rinta had 75 yards and two scores. O’Dell, the quarterback, scored once and led to Rivers’ first TD with a nifty pitch at the last second. Russel Culverwell and Rkyer Gilbert scored the final touchdowns for the Thunder.

Deonte Hawkins had a strong final drive for the Trappers, rushing for 43 yards and completing a 12-yard pass. Mountain View will next travel to Kelso for an Oct. 14 game. Fort Vancouver will play host to Columbia River.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 47, FORT VANCOUVER 0

Fort Vancouver 0 0 0 0—0

Mountain View 6 20 14 7—47

First quarter

MV — Justin Rinta 3 run (run failed)

Second quarter

MV — Michael Rivers 5 run (Chavo Camargo kick)

MV — Rinta 3 run (kick failed)

MV — Riley O’Dell 15 run (Camargo kick)

Third quarter

MV — Rivers 43 run (Camargo kick)

MV — Russel Culverwell 12 run (Cory Creagan kick)

Fourth quarter

MV — Ryker Gilbert 11 run (Creagan kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing — Fort Vancouver: Deonte Hawkins 5-43, Jordan Vela 5-18, Jose Johnson 4-15, Jacob Austin 11-(-35), Abdul Conteh 1-2, Robert Bain 1-2, JaQuan Thomas 1-2. Mountain View: Rivers 8-91, Rinta 15-75, O’Dell 3-43, Connor Atchison 2-8, Culverwell 3-28, Gilbert 2-25, Sean McCarron 5-16, Luke DuChesne 1-5.

Passing — Fort Vancouver: Austin 4-9-3-16, Hawkins 1-3-0-12. Mountain View: O’Dell 1-5-1-8, DuChesne 0-1-0-0.

Receiving — Fort Vancouver: Taylor VanHeck 2-15, Jerrad Myers 1-8, Hawkins 1-2 Mario Avalos-Eyler 1-3. Mountain View: Rivers 1-8.