Mountain View pulls away from Flowing Wells in second half to win 5A Sonoran title

After a close first half, Mountain View outscored Flowing Wells by 21 in the second half to put the Caballeros’ playoff future in jeopardy.

The Cabs, who were ranked No. 8 in Class 5A going into the last regular-season matchup Friday night, would have almost guaranteed a top seed in the playoff bracket had they won. Instead, a 42-16 rout by the Mountain Lions could put them at the bottom of the 16-seed playoff bracket — or they could miss out entirely.

“It hurt a lot,” said Flowing Wells running back Rashaad Henderson, who finished with 80 yards on 16 carries. “We just fell short. We didn’t execute as well as we normally do and the results showed.”

For Mountain View, qualifying for the state playoffs was going to be a tall order. The No. 28 Mountain Lions dropped their first five games before closing the season on a five-game win streak. Friday’s win will most likely not be enough to bump the Mountain Lions into the bracket.

Mountain View coach Clarence McRae knew the first half of the season was going to be tough due to the strength of schedule and how green his team was coming in. But they still got the chance to go out on their terms.

“Coming into every season, you always know that the section means a lot because, when you’re section champs, no one can take that away from you,” McRae said. “We definitely lined up tonight and we knew we had a lot on the line.”

The Arizona Interscholastic Association will announce the playoff brackets Saturday morning, starting at 9:15 a.m. with the 2A field. The 5A bracket is scheduled for 10:15 a.m., and can be heard on 1580 AM.

Flowing Wells coach Mark Brunenkant said he knew the Mountain View game was going to be a big night for the team, but is still hopeful after the loss.

“We wanted the region title. We wanted to hang a banner — that was our No. 1 goal,” Brunenkant said. “Whatever happens in the playoffs is just a bonus for us. Now, I feel it will wake us up and we’ll get focused.”

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

After Flowing Wells went three-and-out on its opening drive, the Cabs’ Michael Ogas intercepted a Mountain Lion pass to recover posession. Flowing Wells was able to move the ball down the field and into the red zone, but was forced to kick a field goal instead.

Mountain View responded at the end of the first quarter with a 17-yard rushing score by Varney Larson for a 7-3 lead.

Each team added a touchdown in the second quarter, but the Cabs weren’t able to convert their PAT. Mountain View led 14-9 at the half.

Flowing Wells struggled in the third quarter, getting into the red zone twice but failing to convert, and instead had a turnover on downs while Mountain View scored twice more.

Two plays after back-to-back turnovers, on an interception and a fumble, Flowing Wells’ Zachary Jurado connected with Lloyd Love on a 15-yard touchdown.

Then Calib McRae scored his second touchdown of the night and Julio Torres scored on a 65-yard fumble recovery to put the game away.

Henderson said the team felt too confident going into Friday’s game, but they just have to better practices to get ready for playoffs.

“We just have to stay humble and do our thing,” Henderson said. “If we play Flowing Wells football, we’ll be good.”