MOUNTAIN VIEW — The Mountain View High School football team will look to learn from history when the Buffalos host Thermopolis at 2 p.m. Friday in a state quarterfinal game.

After winning six-straight games while locking up home-field advantage and the Class 2A West Conference, Mountain View cooled off a bit last week with a 41-15 loss to Greybull. 

While the top-seeded Buffalos have put the final game of the regular season behind them, they don’t plan on making the same mistakes against fourth-seeded Thermopolis. 

“The great thing about it is, it didn’t happen to us this week,” Mountain View coach Brent Walk said on Wednesday. “That’s where we were last season when we got upset in the first round. We weren’t mentally prepared. The wheels just kind of fell off on us. We didn’t do the things we needed to do.”

Mountain View (6-2) maintained its spot at No. 2 in this week’s state rankings. Glenrock is at the top again, Wheatland and Big Piney are tied for third and Greybull is fifth.

But that doesn’t matter to the Buffalos. They are still focused on winning one game at a time. 

“None of our goals have changed,” Walk said. “It’s day-by-day. We want to win the first playoff game. Then, we’ll worry about the next one, and hopefully we’ll be fortunate enough to be playing in the finals.”

Thermopolis (3-5) is coming off a 48-12 loss to Newcastle. The Bobcats also have losses to Greybull, Lander, Wheatland and Glenrock.

They beat Shoshoni 48-0 in Week 1 and earned wins over Moorcroft and Burns. 

Thermopolis is ranked eighth in the state in team offense with 265 yards per game. Defensively, the Bobcats are 12th after allowing 315.5 yards per game. 

Logan Cole has 881 yards rushing on 127 attempts with seven touchdowns on the year. Chandler Maddock has run for 599 yards on 63 carries, and has scored 11 touchdowns. 

Cullen Becher is 20 of 54 through the air for 213 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. Jon Harvey has completed 16 of 34 passes for 171 yards to go along with two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Maddock has 11 receptions for 92 yards, while Noah Schwalbe has nine for 91 yards. Maddock also leads Class 2A in kick returns. He has 296 yards on the season on nine returns. 

“They run the ball really, really well and they have some receivers they can throw the ball to,” Walk said. “I think their coaching staff does an outstanding job.”

Mountain View is ranked first in team defense after allowing 216.6 yards per game. The Buffalos are third in team offense with 320.4 yards.

Jason Stoddard leads the state in individual defense with 175 points. Colby Reese is second with 174. 

“The kids are getting after it and we’re working really, really hard,” Walk said. “We’re looking forward to taking care of one week at a time.”