Mountain View looking to keep rolling

Josh Hall
Posted 10/20/17

The Mountain View High School football team takes on Greybull today on the road.

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Mountain View looking to keep rolling

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MOUNTAIN VIEW — The Mountain View High School football team could lose today’s matchup against Greybull by 100 points and it would not matter.

The Buffalos, ranked second in Class 2A, won the West Conference last week after claiming a 41-0 win against Kemmerer. They also secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and will try to play for their first state championship since 2014.

But Mountain View, which also won state titles in 1984, 1995 and 1997, is not approaching today’s game like that. In fact, the Bufffalos (6-1, 5-0) are going into the 6 p.m. matchup at Greybull with an entirely different mind-set.

“We’re looking at this as more of a playoff atmosphere for us,” Mountain View head coach Brent Walk said. “Greybull has a quality team and they’ve got some very good football players. We’re going up there to play Mountain View football.”

This game is of high importance for Greybull (4-3, 3-2). If the Buffaloes beat Mountain View, they automatically make the playoffs. 

Greybull, Lyman (3-4, 2-3) and Lovell (3-4, 2-3) are all competing for the No. 3 and 4 seeds in the 2A West. One of those team will not make the playoffs. Greybull could still make the playoffs if they lose to Mountain View based on a number of scenarios. 

Mountain View has already secured the one seed and Big Piney (4-1, 5-2) is safe at No. 2.

“We’ve talked about the playoff picture and what this game means as far as seeding purposes,” Walk said. “This is a very important game.”

It has been tough for every team to stop Mountain View in the last seven weeks.

After suffering an 18-0 loss to Cokeville in Week 1 and claiming a 22-21 win over Big Piney in Week 2, the Buffalos have outscored their opponents 193-6.

“The goal is, and the kids have 100 percent bought into this, we’re going to be better than we were last Friday,” Walk said. 

Mountain View leads the state in team defense, allowing 168.6 yards per game. The Buffalos are second, behind Glenrock, in team offense with 343.4 yards per game. 

Briggin Bluemel has run for 674 yards on 11 yards with 10 touchdowns. Bluemel also has 12 catches for 307 yards and two scores. 

Kimball Madsen has gone 41 of 60 through the air with 497 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. The sophomore has also run for 347 yards on 62 yards with four rushing scores.

Co-quarterback Braeden Walk is 41 of 68 passing for 657 yards with six touchdowns and a pick. The sophomore has also run for 72 yards on 44 carries with four scores on the ground. 

Jason Stoddard, who missed last week’s game, had 28 receptions for 361 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 126 yards rushing on 33 carries and two touchdowns. 

Caden Stoll, Braeden Walk and Madsen have combined for 30 catches for 345 yards. 

“We love how our offense is playing right now,” Walk said.  

Greybull quarterback Riley Hill is the top passer in 2A and leads the Buffaloes’ offensive attack after going 94 of 170 for 1,263 yards. He’s thrown for 14 touchdowns and has five interceptions on the year.

“(Hill is) a big, strong kid,” Walk said. “He’s huge. He’s very, very strong and does a great job of breaking tackles. The first thing we have to do when we put pressure on him is get him to the grass. We’ve been a pretty good tackling team all season long. We’ve got to put pressure on him and then we have to do our coverages.”

Miguel Gomez has 29 catches for 521 yards and 6 scores. Brayan Castro has 21 catches for 255 yards and two touchdowns, while Brock Hill and Felipe Gaytan have combined for 29 catches for 292 yards.

Castro has run for 591 yards on 97 carries with 19 touchdowns. 

Defensively, Greybull is led by Zack Keisel’s 128 points. Hill has 120 and Gerardo Corrall has 108.

Stoddard leads the state in defensive points with 175. Colby Rees is second with 147.

“We tell the kids, as long as we do our jobs, there are no holes in our defense,” Walk said.