5A Southern: Mountain View
2021 record: 4-6 overall, 3-2 5A Southern (third)
2022 record: 0-1
Head coach: Matt Johnson, 11-13, fourth year at Mountain View and 124-74 overall in his 19th year with stops at Rincon (22-21 from 2003-06), Catalina Foothills (6-5 in 2008) and Ironwood Ridge (85-35 from 2009-18). Johnson coached Ironwood Ridge to a state championship in 2012 and was there for 10 years before becoming the coach at Mountain View in 2019. Johnson played for legendary football coach Vern Friedli at Amphi before moving on to play for NAU in 1992. He served as an assistant under Friedli from 1997 to 2000. He was an assistant at Flagstaff Coconino for a season and then returned to assist at Amphi again in 2002. He moved on to be the head coach at Rincon/University for four years before returning to assist at Amphi once again. Johnson coached at Catalina Foothills in 2008 before another local football legend, Will Kreamer, hired him to replace Gary Minor at Ironwood Ridge in 2009.
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Key returners:
- QB William Howell, 6-3, 180, Jr.
- QB/WR/DB Josh Roman Jr., 6-0, 190, Sr.
- WR/DB Tariq Booker, 6-0, 160, Sr.
- WR/DB/KR Dillion Johnson, 6-2, 190, Sr.
- RB/DB Steven Mene-bie, 6-3, 185, Jr.
- RB/LB Isaiah Ramirez, 5-10, 180, Sr.
- LB/SS/P Brett Roberts, 6-3, 230, Sr.
- OL/DL Diego Elias, 6-2, 280, Sr.
- OL/DL Brandon Hawkins-Meza, 6-3, 300, Sr.
Coaching staff:
- Head coach: Matt Johnson
- Offensive coordinator/wide receivers/quarterbacks: Zach Wolf
- Defensive coordinator/linebackers: Raymond Reid
- Defensive line: Daniel Handy
- Wide receivers/safeties: Mike Good
- Running backs: Roy Stewart
- Offensive line: Ralph Flores
- Assistant: Paul Acosta
- Safeties kickers: Ben Ambrosio
- Cornerbacks/snappers: Stephan Reed
Notes: Mountain View coach Matt Johnson and the offensive staff are going with a platooning system at quarterback with junior William Howell and senior Josh Roman Jr. sharing the duties. They combined to complete 12 of 24 pass attempts for 89 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in the 37-21 loss against Marana last week. … LB Brett Roberts, a senior with impressive size at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, plans to go into sports medicine while attending Arizona. He also mentioned he will attempt to walk-on with the Wildcats. … Johnson is among the select few of Southern Arizona head coaches this year who have won a state title. The others are Dustin Peace (CDO), Jeff Scurran (Rio Rico) and Tom Joseph (Santa Rita). Johnson captured a title with Ironwood Ridge in 2012, Peace with CDO in 2009, Scurran with Sabino in 1990, 1992 and 1998 and Joseph with Mesa Mountain View in 2002. … Johnson is again subscribing to the theory of playing a difficult non-region schedule for power points to enhance postseason opportunities. The Mountain Lions opened against rival Marana (7-3 last year), travel Friday to Higley (coming off a win over Poston Butte) and host Red Mountain (11-3 and reached the 6A semifinals last year) on Sept. 23.
Keep an eye out for: RB/DB Steven Mene-bie, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior who rushed for 60 yards on nine carries with two TDs against Marana last week in his first varsity appearance in the backfield. Tremendous size already, has another year to develop further.
28. MOUNTAIN VIEW (2-4, 1-0)
Head coach: Matt JohnsonMountain Lions compete in the 5A Sonoran. *Region game. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | Ovr | Reg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/25 | at Gilbert | L, 27-21 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 9/1 | Horizon | L, 52-0 | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| 9/8 | at Sunrise Mountain | L, 53-14 | 0-3 | 0-0 |
| 9/15 | Marana | W, 42-35 | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| 9/29 | Walden Grove | L, 35-21 | 1-4 | 0-0 |
| 10/6 | Flowing Wells* | W, 35-14 | 2-4 | 1-0 |
| 10/13 | Nogales* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/20 | Maricopa* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/27 | at Tucson* | -- | -- | -- |
| 11/3 | at Ironwood Ridge* | -- | -- | -- |
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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