Mountain View in the first half of Friday night’s dominant 47-14 win over previously unbeaten Flowing Wells at Wayne Jones Field at Mountain View:
— Flowing Wells’ first possession ended in a three-and-out, followed by Michael Davis’ 41-yard run that set up Liam Lewis‘ 2-yard touchdown run with 7:24 left in the first quarter.
— Flowing Wells’ attempt of a 21-yard field goal resulted in Auggie Duarte’s block after penetrating the line. Caden Rudy picked up the ball and ran 83 yards for a touchdown, increasing the lead to 13-0 with 2:01 left in the quarter.
— Following an interception by Mythias Holguin at the Flowing Wells’ 33, Mountain View was forced to punt. The punt was muffed and Gabriel Chacon recovered the ball at the Caballero 15. A failed 29-yard field goal was wiped out by a running-into-the-kicker penalty by Flowing Wells. Still on fourth down (and 3 yards to go), Mountain View scored on an 8-yard pass from Ion Brin to Marcos Gradillas with 8:04 left in the second quarter, putting the Mountain Lions ahead 19-0.
— Flowing Wells answered with a 39-yard scoring pass from halfback Quinn Van to tight end Xavier Galligan, after Van received a lateral pass from Benicio Ruiz on a fourth-and-7 play, but Mountain View quickly responded. Drake Davis rushed for 15 yards and then broke free from three tacklers for a 67-yard scoring jaunt to give Mountain View a 26-6 lead with 4:16 remaining in the half.
— A three-and-out produced by Mountain View’s defense resulted a 54-yard scoring drive, highlighted by Brin’s 17-yard scamper and 36-yard scoring strike to Wyatt Hughes with 37.8 seconds left.
Game over, for all intents and purposes, at that point — Mountain View 33, Flowing Wells 6, heading into the locker room. The Caballeros were well on their way to no longer being unbeaten and going to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the 5A Southern.
Mountain View coach Matt Johnson talks about his team taking care of business, playing efficiently in all phases, in the Mountain Lions’ 47-14 win over previously unbeaten Flowing Wells. pic.twitter.com/7mFewZxtSw
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 11, 2025
“We’ve been really on our kids about eliminating mental mistakes,” said Mountain View coach Matt Johnson, the dean of Southern Arizona coaches who is 142-93 in his 22nd year as a head coach. “(Mistakes) have been our No. 1 problem all year.
“We have some really high-character kids with some good talent, and then we would make a bunch of silly mistakes that would cause us to struggle. It has nothing to do with the other team, but we were just shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The Mountain Lions (4-3, 2-2) made a complete turnaround from last week’s 17-6 loss at Maricopa with the victory over Flowing Wells, which was off to its best start since 2015.
“It was a great win for us,” said Rudy, a senior defensive end/outside linebacker. “We had a rough game last week, so to come out and play like we did, it was a great feeling.”
Lewis opened the second half with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Rudy then intercepted a pass two plays into Flowing Wells’ possession, allowing Mountain View to take over at the Caballero 15.
On the third play of the possession, Brin connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Vanderscoff to increase the lead to 47-16. The game was played with a running clock from that point.
Can’t get more efficient than scoring on five of the first six possessions with special teams helping with the recovery of a muffed punt return and Lewis’ 93-yard kickoff return for a score.
“Our biggest thing this last month is, ‘Can we clean it up and show who we are?'” Johnson said. “Tonight, we got all the breaks. Everything went our way (including scoring a touchdown on a fourth-down play). Obviously, it’s great when it works out. Luck never hurts, either.”
BATTLE OF RUNNING BACKS
Mountain View sophomore Drake Davis had four rushes for 87 yards, including a 67-yard TD run in which he broke numerous tackles on the way to the end zone. He has close to 700 yards rushing in his first varsity season. Despite Davis’ youth, coach Matt Johnson said he is one of… pic.twitter.com/ILTenpToJl
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 11, 2025
Flowing Wells senior running back Jayden Simmons rushed for 202 yards on 20 carries, his last rush a 49-yard score with 6:57 left.
Davis, along with fellow sophomore Jaylee Abraham of Desert View, will be a couple of running backs to watch over the next couple of years.
The 5-foot-7 and 184-pound Davis finished with 87 yards on four carries, highlighted by his 67-yard scoring run.
Davis is at 692 yards rushing on 111 carries with seven touchdowns in his first varsity season after playing at the junior-varsity level last year as a freshman.
He is getting the most out of the one varsity he season he gets to spend with his brother Dennis, a senior lineman.
“That kind of set my mindset to just work harder,” the younger Davis said about not being part of the varsity team last year. “My brother up here as a senior pushed me more to play with him. Great, great, beautiful season … still, ahead of me, got three or four games left, plus playoffs. Just keep moving.”
Johnson said Davis and Lewis are a much-needed one-two bunch at running back because of the number of times the Mountain Lions run the ball (83.5 percent of the time).
Davis can literally carry most of the load despite his youth.
“He’s a great kid, hard worker,” Johnson said. “Squats 400 pounds, one of our strongest kids. Always great to see your hardest working kids have great success like that … 265-pound power clean, 400-pound squat, he puts in the work. He lifts like a lineman but runs like an athlete.”
BRIN-ING WITH OPTIMISIM
Brin had struggled entering Friday without a game of more than 46 yards passing in the previous five games after an efficient 8-of-11 performance for 100 yards in the season-opening 21-20 win over Tucson in overtime.
He was 16 of 39 for 139 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions against Phoenix Trevor Browne, Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Desert View, Cienega and Maricopa.
In the win over Flowing Wells, Brin did not throw for a lot of yards (57) but was 4 of 6 with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His 36-yard scoring strike to Hughes was on the money, right in stride, past the defender.
“We’re just really working with him on consistency, letting the game come to him and not force things,” Johnson said.
DESERT VIEW LONE REMAINING UNBEATEN SOUTHERN ARIZONA TEAM
Mountain View will try to keep momentum hosting Nogales next week on Senior Night ahead of the Battle for the Boot game at home against Marana on Oct. 24.
Desert View dispatched Nogales, 57-0, at home Friday to improve its start to 7-0 — the best beginning in the 41-year history of the program.
The Jaguars, coached by Nogales alum and former Arizona tight end Robert Bonillas, are in position to run the table as the lone unbeaten team remaining in Southern Arizona.
Desert View, 4-0 in the 5A Southern, plays its next two games on the road against Canyon del Oro (3-4, 1-3) on Friday and Cienega (4-3, 2-1) on Oct. 24, before hosting Flowing Wells on Oct. 31 in the regular-season finale.
The Jaguars have won each of their games by at least three touchdowns (the closest margin was a 35-14 victory over Sunnyside on Oct. 2).
The power rankings for 4A through 6A are published for the first time this season on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see where Marana (6-1 and 4-0 in the 5A Sonoran) and Desert View are rated among the state’s 5A schools.
TANQUE VERDE CLINCHES NO. 1 SPOT IN 2A SOUTH I
The remodeled 2A includes South I and South II regions with teams from each of the regions playing each other in the last week of the regular season based on their standing in their respective region.
Tanque Verde (6-2, 3-0) will represent the 2A South I as the No. 1 team in the final crossover game either Oct. 23 or Oct. 24.
Hawks have defeated second-place teams Palo Verde (5-3, 2-1) and Bisbee (3-5, 2-1). They host Tombstone (1-6, 1-2) on Friday in the last game before the crossover games.
In the 2A South II, the representative will either be Willcox (7-1, 2-0) or Benson (5-3, 2-0). Those teams play Friday at Willcox for the No. 1 spot in their region and a game against Tanque Verde to determine the automatic qualifier for the 2A state tournament.
HOT TEAMS COMING DOWN THE STRETCH
Teams with the longest winning streaks with the season reaching Week 9 next Friday:
7 games — Desert View (eight-game streak dating to last year)
6 games — Marana and Willcox
4 games — Tanque Verde, Palo Verde, Pueblo (4-3, 2-0 4A Gila) and Thatcher (6-1, 4-0 3A East).
3 games — Tucson High (4-3, 3-1 5A Sonoran), Mica Mountain (5-2, 2-0 4A Kino) and Valley Union (5-2, 3-1 1A South)
Palo Verde is a victory away from achieving its first winning season since the Titans finished 11-2 in 2009 under Mayfield, with a loss in the state semifinals. The Titans, who have reached five wins in a season for the first time since 2013, host Bisbee on Friday.
WEEK 8 RESULTS
5A SONORAN
Marana 51, Casa Grande 27
Buena 34, Vista Grande 0
Tucson 28, Canyon del Oro 23
5A SOUTHERN
Cienega 20, Sunnyside 6
Desert View 57, Nogales 0
Mountain View 47, Flowing Wells 14
4A KINO
Mica Mountain 20, Walden Grove 14
Douglas 45, Amphitheater 14
Sahuaro 21, Catalina Foothills 14
4A GILA
Pueblo 48, Cholla 3
Sahuarita 54, Rincon/UHS 0
Empire 41, Rio Rico 21
3A EAST
Pusch Ridge 45, Coolidge 6
Thatcher 61, San Tan Foothills 0
2A SOUTH I
Bisbee 46, Tombstone 0
Palo Verde 77, Santa Rita 0
2A SOUTH II
Benson 67, Desert Christian 7
Willcox 42, Santa Cruz Valley 23
2A INDEPENDENT
Catalina 20, Scottsdale Coronado 0
1A SOUTH
St. David 51, Fort Thomas 0
NON-REGION
5A: Scottsdale Desert Mountain 50, Ironwood Ridge 3
5A: Maricopa 57, Cottonwood Mingus 0
3A: Florence 30, Phoenix Shadow Mountain 12
2A: Tanque Verde 57, Surprise Highland Prep 0
1A: San Manuel 54, Duncan 28
1A: Valley Union 46, Spring Valley Mayer 6
BYES: 6A Salpointe (4-2), 3A Sabino (3-4), 3A Safford (2-5) and 1A Baboquivari (0-7)
WEEK 9 SCHEDULE
Games at 7 p.m. unless noted
6A SOUTHERN
Salpointe (4-2, 0-1) at Chandler Basha (6-0, 1-0)
5A SONORAN
Tucson (4-3, 3-1) at Marana (6-1, 4-0)
Buena (4-3, 2-1) at Casa Grande (3-4, 1-2)
Ironwood Ridge (1-6, 1-2) at Vista Grande (2-5, 0-3)
5A SOUTHERN
Cienega (4-3, 2-1) at Flowing Wells (6-1, 2-1)
Maricopa (4-3, 1-2) at Sunnyside (4-3, 1-2)
Nogales (2-5, 0-4) at Mountain View (4-3, 2-2)
4A KINO
Amphitheater (2-5, 0-2) at Mica Mountain (5-2, 2-0)
Walden Grove (4-3, 1-1) at Catalina Foothills (3-4, 1-1)
Sahuaro (5-2, 1-1) at Douglas (4-2, 1-1)
4A GILA
Rio Rico (1-6, 0-2) at Pueblo (4-3, 2-0)
Sahuarita (3-4, 2-0) at Empire (2-5, 2-0)
Cholla (2-5, 0-2) at Rincon/University (2-4, 0-2)
3A EAST
Pusch Ridge (7-1, 4-1) at Safford (2-5, 1-2)
Sabino (3-4, 2-1) at Florence (3-4, 1-2)
2A SOUTH I
Tanque Verde (6-2, 3-0) at Tombstone (1-6, 1-2)
Bisbee (3-5, 2-1) at Palo Verde (5-3, 2-1)
2A SOUTH II
Benson (5-3, 2-0) at Willcox (7-1, 2-0)
Eloy Santa Cruz Valley (3-5, 0-2) at Desert Christian (3-4, 0-2), 6 p.m.
NON-REGION
5A: Desert View (7-0) at Canyon del Oro (3-4)
3A: Payson (6-1) at Thatcher (6-1)
3A: Round Valley (6-1) at San Tan Foothills (0-7)
2A: Santa Rita (0-8) at San Carlos (4-3)
2A: Catalina (3-4) at Globe (4-4)
1A: St. David (7-1) at Bagdad (7-0)
1A: San Manuel (3-5) at Baboquivari (0-7)
1A: Valley Union (5-2) at Valley Lutheran (0-7)
BYE: 3A Coolidge (4-4)
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