PORTLAND – Mountain Valley’s defense rose again Saturday in the Class B football state championship game.
And the offense wasn’t too shabby, either.
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Completing its eighth shutout of the season and pounding another opponent with a relentless ground game, Mountain Valley captured its fourth state championship in the last seven seasons with a 20-0 victory against Leavitt at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
The Falcons held the normally high-octane Leavitt offense to one first down in the first half, and then two more in the second half while it was still a game.
“I think Leavitt came in with more offensive statistics than our whole league,” said Mountain Valley Coach Jim Aylward. “But I was confident we could shut them down.”
Mountain Valley (12-0) won another title in an even year to go with the championships that it captured in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
The Falcons blew the smaller Hornets (11-1) off the line for most of the game, as Taylor Bradley, Joshua Allen and Tyler Mason gained steady yardage.
The Falcons had field advantage in the first half, and Leavitt was fortunate the deficit wasn’t greater.
The Hornets were unable to change field position after a punt by Rashad Lavoie of Mountain Valley pinned the them on their 2.
“I thought our defense played very well in the first half until we gave up the second touchdown just before halftime,” said Coach Mike Hathaway. “Mountain Valley is stout, but you can’t keep giving a team like that with their running backs a short field.”
Leading 14-0 at halftime, a score that stood through three quarters, the Falcons put the game away on Bradley’s 66-yard touchdown run.
“The line blocked great,” said Bradley. “We read our keys and got great angles.”
An interception by Cam Kaubris and a 12-yard return on the third play of the game gave the Falcons the ball close to midfield.
Three plays and a holding penalty on the Falcons later, Mountain Valley had the lead, as tight end Christian Durland made an outstretched catch at the right pylon for a 34-yard scoring pass from Kaubris.
Kaubris scored on a 1-yard run with 2:01 remaining in the first half, then added a run for the 2-point conversion to make it 14-0.
Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:
tchard@pressherald.com
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