Mountain View grinds out victory over Evergreen

It was a grinding, war-of-attrition kind of game.

In other words, it was just the way Mountain View likes it.

The Thunder rushed for an efficient 210 yards in the contest and pulled away in the fourth quarter Friday for a 38-21 non-league victory over Evergreen at McKenzie Stadium.

Evergreen, which last week snapped a 13-game losing streak with a win over Fort Vancouver, trailed 24-21 entering the final period. But Mountain View came up with the big plays down the stretch, including a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by Garrett Jones.

For Mountain View (1-1), the victory marked a bounce back from a 35-7 season-opening loss to Union.

The Thunder got 73 yards on the ground from Carl Falls, 48 from Russel Culverwell, 41 from Austin Mace, and 38 from Eddie Richardson in a balanced attack that wore down the Plainsmen.

But it was the passing of Luke DuChesne that helped Mountain View break open the game. After starting 1 of 6 for 5 yards, DuChesne completed 5 of his final 7 passes for 82 yards.

Evergreen jumped out to a fast start, getting a 76-yard return from Te’Kwon Wallace on the opening kickoff and turning that into a 1-yard touchdown run by Jamaree Jones.

The Plainsmen held a 14-10 lead late in the second quarter, but Mountain View recovered an Evergreen fumble and converted that into a 21-yard TD pass from DuChesne to Nolan Biggs with 19 seconds to play in the half.

Mountain View struck first in the second half, getting a 14-yard scoring run from Nicholas Wright midway through the third quarter. But Evergreen closed within three late in the period when Anthony Thomas scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Kobey Eaton.

That’s when Mountain View, which held Evergreen to 67 yards of offense in the second half, took control.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Culverwell ran 13 yards for a score on a third-and-2 play. Moments later, Jones came up with his interception return that iced the game.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 38, EVERGREEN 21

Evergreen 7 7 7 0–21

Mountain View 7 10 7 14–38

First quarter

E — Jamaree Jones 1 run (Conner Finnegan kick)

MV — Carl Falls 1 run (Jordan Montenegro kick)

Second quarter

E — Anthony Thomas 65 run (Finnegan kick)

MV — Montenegro 30 FG

MV — Nolan Biggs 21 from Luke DuChesne (Montenegro kick)

Third quarter

MV — Nicholas Wright 14 run (Montenegro kick)

E — Thomas 10 from Kobey Eaton (Finnegan kick)

Fourth quarter

MV — Russel Culverwell 13 run (Montenegro kick)

MV — Garrett Jones 55 int. ret. (Montenegro kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Evergreen — Anthony Thomas 3-84, Justin Straup 10-47, Jamaree Jones 14-32, Justice Murphy 2-10, Ray Donalde 3-3, Kobey Eaton 2-1, Te’Kwon Wallace 1-0; Mountain View — Carl Falls 10-73, Russel Culverwell 8-48, Austin Mace 13-41, Eddie Richardson 9-38, Nicholas Wright 2-11.

Passing: Evergreen — Kobey Eaton 1-9-2-10; Mountain View — Luke DuChesne 6-13-0-87.

Receiving: Evergreen — Anthony Thomas 1-10; Mountain View — Carl Falls 2-43, Nolan Biggs 2-31, Jesus Familia 1-8, Nicholas Wright 1-5.