Mustangs’ defense leads way to win

After scoring 129 points in its first three games, offense seemed to be The Meadows' strength.

On Friday, the Mustangs showed they can play defense, too.

The Meadows held an explosive Mountain View offense scoreless until the fourth quarter on the way to a 27-12 Class 2A Southern League home win.

"Our defensive line was pretty solid," said sophomore linebacker Mike Kenny, who made three sacks and recovered a fumble. "We just had a lot of pressure on the quarterback and running back.

"We got a lot of good flow by the linebackers, and it was a good overall performance by the defense."

Mountain View (3-2, 1-1) entered Friday averaging 34 points, but lost three fumbles in the first half and four in the game.

Defensive end Heath Gould made two sacks and a fumble recovery for the defending 2A state champion Mustangs (3-1, 2-0).

The Saints pulled within 20-12 with 5:57 to play when T.J. Engel hit Justyn Anderson for a 5-yard touchdown pass.

But the Mustangs responded with an 11-play, 62-yard drive capped by Garrett Gosse's 28-yard touchdown pass to Max Newman with 1:23 left.

"I freaked out," Kenny said of his reaction to the final drive. "It was awesome. I was too happy."

David Liu carried 20 times for 83 yards and one TD for The Meadows. Chase Marrs added 74 yards on 10 carries.

Gosse completed 6 of 13 passes for 170 yards and two scores, also running for a 19-yard TD. His favorite target was tight end Dylan Lee, who caught four passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.

Engel completed 16 of 25 passes for 224 yards and two TDs with one interception to lead Mountain View. Trevor Van Kempen had seven receptions for 88 yards, and Karl Benjamin caught three passes for 91 yards and a score.

• Boulder City 67, Sunrise Mountain 0 -- At Boulder City, the Eagles (3-2) limited the Miners (1-4) to 65 yards of offense to win easily.

Devin Combs rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and Matt Combs ran for 44 yards and two touchdowns.

Ross LaMarca threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Preston Swasey.

Backup quarterback Ryan Washburn rushed for a touchdown, as did senior Steven Kaposta.

Jack LaMarca returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, and started the game by returning the kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown.

-- Jim Konst

• Laughlin 40, Henderson International 6 -- At Henderson International, Christian Kruse needed only 12 carries to rack up 216 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Cougars (4-1) past the Wolverines.

Kruse scored on a 56-yard run on Laughlin's second play from scrimmage. He added a 54-yard scoring run in the second quarter and a 33-yard touchdown in the third as the Cougars built a 40-0 lead.

Corey Cook added 178 yards and a touchdown for Laughlin, which had 414 yards on the ground. Andre Prosise ran for two 1-yard touchdowns.

Henderson International (2-2) lost three fumbles and had 212 total yards.

-- Sage Sammons

• Spring Mountain 56, Round Mountain 6 -- At Spring Mountain, James Maestas returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown and scored on runs of 52 and 40 yards to help the Eagles (4-1, 3-0 1A Southern) breeze past the Knights (0-5, 0-2).

Maestas had 172 yards on 12 carries.

Robby Lindbloom was 7 of 11 passing for 93 yards. Marquise Lewis had three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.

Jason Baez led the Eagles' defense with 13 tackles and made one of Spring Mountain's five fumble recoveries.

• Indian Springs 44, Beatty 0 -- At Indian Springs, Adam Reinke threw for 269 yards and five touchdowns and also caught a TD pass to help the Thunderbirds (2-2, 1-1 1A Southern) shut out the Hornets (1-3, 0-3).

Reinke completed 12 of 21 passes, including scoring strikes of 50 and 54 yards to Dominic Smith. Smith, who caught five passes for 167 yards, also threw an 18-yard TD pass to Reinke.

Xavier Pena made touchdown catches of 45 and 5 yards, and Devon Jackson caught a 15-yard touchdown from Reinke.

The Thunderbirds racked up 384 total yards.