Big second half lifts The Meadows past Mountain View

Football players from The Meadows were playing for more than a crucial win in the Class 2A Southern League on Saturday.

The Mustangs also played for coach Frank DeSantis, who was in Minnesota to be with his ailing father. They responded with a strong second half to pull away for a 34-26 victory at Mountain View.

“Our coach is with his dad. I know he wants to be here with his whole heart,” The Meadows quarterback Garrett Gosse said. “This one was for him.”

Gosse found running back Chase Marrs open on a wheel route for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first offensive play of the second half, breaking a 12-all tie and giving The Meadows (2-2, 2-0) a lead it held the rest of the way.

Mountain View (2-3, 1-1) lost a fumble on its ensuing possession. The Meadows took advantage with a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by Gosse’s 7-yard TD pass to Taylor Beck to take a 26-12 lead.

“It swung the momentum,” Gosse said of the two quick TDs in the third quarter. “That gave us a little breathing room.”

Gosse, a junior, completed 16 of 24 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He fired a 28-yard scoring strike to Richard Lee to give the Mustangs a 34-18 lead with 11:50 remaining.

Mountain View quarterback T.J. Engel scored on a 6-yard run before Jacob Duldulao ran for a 2-point conversion to pull the Saints within 34-26 with 8:10 left.

On its final possession, Mountain View drove 39 yards in nine plays to The Meadows 41-yard line but ran out of time.

The win put two-time defending state champion The Meadows in a three-team cluster atop the 2A Southern League at 2-0, along with Agassi Prep and Needles.

“You never know how the conference is going to shake out, but this is huge for us,” said Mustangs assistant Paul Wood, who filled in for DeSantis.

Duldulao, a freshman, carried 16 times for 101 yards and one touchdown. Engel passed for 122 yards and one TD and rushed for 60 yards and another score.

Marrs caught three passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.