3A: Falcon collapses in second half against Mountain View

LOVELAND - Five turnovers, mental mistakes and a horrible second half doomed sixth-seeded Falcon, as it was blown out 39-6 in a 3A quarterfinal football game at No. 3 Mountain View.

Mountain View’s Steve Ryan tallied 95 total yards and three second-half touchdowns to lead the rout after the Mountain Lions led 13-0 at halftime.

“We switched up our formation in the second half and started running the I (formation),” Ryan said. “We knew they would blitz a lot, so we tried to run some misdirection.”

After two bad Falcon turnovers led to all 13 first-half points for Mountain View, the flood gates opened quickly in the third quarter, keyed by Ryan.

“Falcon had a good game plan in the first half, and they stopped us pretty well,” Mountain View coach Bart Mayes said. “But we wore them down a little bit with our no-huddle offense, and Steve is a gamer and a very special kid.”

Ryan scored on runs of 8 and 18 yards, then capped it off with a 21-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Brennan Stine, his third score in a 4-minute span.

“The two plays in the first half with the interception and fumble on the punt were two momentum breakers for us,” Falcon coach Jason Catron said. “We couldn’t find a rhythm on offense, and we lost to a better team today.”

The lone highlight for Falcon was a 50-yard touchdown pass from Joey Caron to Joe Vela in the fourth quarter. Josh Gustad added 82 receiving yards and Aaron Blevins rushed 26 times for 88 hard-fought yards.

Mountain View advanced and will play No. 2 Valor Christian in the state semifinals, its second straight trip to the final four.

“It feels great to be going for the second year in a row, but we have to come out even harder in practice this week,” Ryan said.

For Falcon, a great season ended at 10-2, including a 9-1 regular season.

“We had a tremendous season, and we have nothing to hang our heads about,” Catron said. “We were one of eight teams to be playing across the state today.”