San Mateo’s famed triple option attack proved too much for the Mountain View football team in a 35-21 loss Thursday, despite some late offense output from the Spartans.
San Mateo rushed 51 times for 380 yards and five touchdowns with quarterback Lukas Fitzgerald running for 126 yards and a touchdown and running back Jovani Hernandez Cruz running for 124 yards and a touchdown. San Mateo also got more than 100 yards rushing from the combined efforts of TJ Johnson, Cameron Barry and Tyce Corpus, using their speed and athleticism to evade the Mountain View defense.
“They do what they do very well, and that’s what they did tonight,” Mountain View head coach Rick Esparza said. “They’re a good football team and they’re going to make a run at our league championship. Very impressed by them.”
Mountain View showed promise on offense at times, starting with its opening possession, moving the ball well on a 14-play drive before ending at the San Mateo 33-yard line with a turnover on downs. Two San Mateo touchdown drives had Mountain View down 14-0 before a 36-yard outside touchdown run from Mountain View running back Dom Kristof with seven minutes left in the second quarter. The junior picked up where he left off from a four-touchdown and 300 rushing yard game against Carlmont last week by using his acceleration to get to the outside before cutting back inside to avoid defenders to score.
“Dom has got great vision in the open field, he has a variety of little moves and cuts that can set up defenders pretty well, and when he gets in the open field, he’s fast enough to go and run away from people,” Esparza said.
San Mateo controlled the possession and tempo later in the game, going on a 10-play touchdown drive at the end of the second quarter to make it 21-7 and a 15-play drive at the beginning of the second half that featured 14 runs to push the lead to 21 points. The second half drive took over eight minutes off the clock.
Down 35-7 late in the fourth quarter, Mountain View scored two touchdowns in three minutes thanks to big plays from wide receiver Micah Perkins and quarterback Ishan Devarapalli. Perkins got the offense going with a 48-yard catch and a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter, following it up with a 62-yard catch after a San Mateo three-and-out. Devarapalli then scored on a scramble with 20 seconds left to make it 35-21.
“Our guys battled, we kept fighting all the way to the last play in the fourth quarter, which was great to see,” Esparza said. “There’s no quit in this group, hopefully we are healthy.”
Mountain View (2-4) is now 1-1 in the PAL De Anza Division as it looks to claim a playoff berth given to the top three finishers in league. Mountain View sits tied for third place and will likely need to win two of its last three league games to qualify. Mountain View travels to play Capuchino Friday, followed by away to King’s Academy Oct. 24 and home against Burlingame Oct. 31.
“This team can do it,” Esparza said. “It’s not going to be easy, because those are really good teams, but I believe in our guys and we’re going to give it our best shot.”
