How do you respond to losing eight offensive starters and an all-state defensive lineman to graduation?
For the Mountain View High School football team, it’s simply about looking to the next man up.
The Wildcats combined an efficient offensive effort with an opportunistic outing by their defense to roll to a 37-12 season-opening victory over Forest Park on Friday afternoon.
In his first career start, junior quarterback Bryce Lambert completed 6 of 8 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. One of those went to returning starter Tyler Tanks, while the other was hauled in by newcomer Austin Barber.
Defensively, it hardly mattered that game-changing pass rusher Eric Mensah has moved on to play at Ohio State. Mountain View forced a pair of turnovers and held Bruins running back Landon Hunt — a second-team all-Region 6B performer a year ago — in check until the final outcome was all but decided.
Wildcats head coach Lou Sorrentino attributed his squad’s sharpness, at least in part, to an unorthodox team meeting on the field prior to the noon kickoff. It came about after the contest was postponed on Thursday night due to the wave of severe thunderstorms that hit the area.
“Normally we don’t do that,” Sorrentino said of the morning meeting, which he described as a “jog-through” of their game plan. “One thing I’ve learned since COVID is you’ve got to be flexible, and the kids responded really well to it and carried it over into the game.”
Forest Park appeared wide awake at the game’s onset, taking a quick 6-0 lead on a 72-yard scamper by Kellen Lewis on the third play from scrimmage. But the visiting Bruins made big mistakes on each of their next two possessions.
After a 25-yard field goal by Connor Bugni pulled Mountain View within 6-3, Forest Park mishandled the snap on a punt attempt on the ensuing possession. The Wildcats took over at the Bruins’ 29-yard-line, and on the very next play, Lambert found Tanks over the middle on a slant pattern that he took the distance to put the hosts in front 10-6 with 1:53 left in the first quarter.
On the first play of Forest Park’s next possession, quarterback Carson Fossum’s pass was batted straight up into the air by a Mountain View defender. Wildcats linebacker Nick English corralled it and rambled 21 yards to the end zone, making it 17-6.
“We always say the only thing better than a pick is a pick-six,” said Sorrentino whose team recorded seven last season. “That one helped change the complexion of the game.”
The Bruins never recovered. They turned the ball over on downs on the next possession, and three plays later, Lambert lofted a 20-yard scoring strike to Barber.
Mountain View added touchdown runs from Torie Martin and Micah Wright in the second half, covering 1 and 6 yards, respectively. Martin’s score was set up by a well-placed throw from Lambert to Tanks that covered 33 yards down the left sideline. Wright’s touchdown run was the product of an interception that Elias Hines returned 64 yards.
“He’s got all the tools,” Sorrentino said of Lambert. “He can run, he can throw, and I thought he was very composed today.”
Lambert said he didn’t feel any pressure in his first start, even after Forest Park took the quick advantage.
“Coach [Sorrentino] had a good game plan, and I knew if I stuck to it, we’d do great,” he said. “There’s still a lot to work on going forward, but for my first varsity start, I feel like it went really well.”
Running behind a massive offensive line that features 6-foot-5, 300-pound Virginia Tech commit Nathaniel Wright and 6-7, 300-pound Liberty signee Brandon Edozie, Hunt finished the afternoon with a game-high 114 yards on 24 carries. However, 68 of those yards came in the second half after his squad had fallen behind 30-6.
Mountain View returns to action with a road matchup at Woodgrove next Friday.
Forest Park 6 0 0 6 — 12
Mountain View 17 7 6 7 — 37
First quarter
FP—Kellen Lewis 72 run (kick failed).
MV—Connor Bugni 25 field goal.
MV—Taylor Tanks 29 pass from Bryce Lambert (Bugni kick).
MV—Nick English 21 INT return (Bugni kick).
Second quarter
MV—Austin Barber 20 pass from Lambert (Bugni kick).
Third quarter
MV—Torie Martin 1 run (run failed).
Fourth quarter
MV—Micah Wright 6 run (Bugni kick).
FP—Collin Swift 69 pass from Carson Fossum (pass failed).
TEAM STATISTICS
FP MV
First downs 16 9
Rushes-yards 35-182 29-109
Passing yards 155 96
Comp-Att-Int 16-28-2 6-8-0
Punts-Avg. 2-30.5 3-33.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-60 6-32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Forest Park—Landon Hunt 24-114; Kellen Lewis 4-80; Antonio Jones 5-4; Carson Fossum 1-(-3); Thomas Lee 1-(-13). Mountain View—Torie Martin 16-87, TD; Landon Ruppert 1-11; Bryce Lambert 7-5; Micah Wright 4-4, TD; Amari Collier 1-2.
Passing: Forest Park—Carson Fossum 15-27-2, 121 yards, TD; Kellen Lewis 1-1-0 2 yards. Mountain View—Bryce Lambert 6-8-0, 96 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving: Forest Park—Collin Swift 7-112, TD; Kenneth Casperson 2-9; Alijah Clemons 1-9; Mateo Moncrieffe 1-9; Landon Hunt 1-8; Thomas Lee 1-5; Kellen Lewis 1-4; Kevin Strong 1-2; Antonio Jones 1-(-3). Mountain View—Taylor Tanks 2-62, TD; Austin Barber 2-23, TD; Torie Martin 2-11.
