Report and photo by Kevin Johnson
The Mountain View Yellowjackets qualified for the Class 3A State Playoffs for the seventh consecutive year with a 20-19 road victory over the Riverview Raiders.
Mountain View jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage when Junior Quarterback Elijah Carlton scored on a 56-yard touchdown run.
The Yellowjackets would add to that lead late in the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown run by C.J. Rose, but Riverview would quickly score on a 32 touchdown run by Quarterback Israel Gameros right before the end of the first half to make Mountain View’s lead 12-6 at halftime.
Riverview took their first lead of the game with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Gameros to Trigg Rodgers, extra point was good by Eric Brown to give Riverview a brief 13-12 lead with 2:37 left to go in the third quarter.
On Mountain View’s next possession, Carlton would score on a 68-yard touchdown run, two-point conversion was good on a pass from Trampass Stubbs to Sawyer Robinson to give Mountain View a 20-12 lead.
After Riverview scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown to cut the score to 20-19, Carlton would intercept a pass on the two-point conversion to propel Mountain View to the victory.
Carlton led the offense with 153 yards on 18 carries and two rushing touchdowns. Rose finished with 42 yards on 15 carries and a score.
Defensively for the Yellowjackets, Lane Miller led the way with nine tackles, Landon Goins had seven tackles and an interception, Joseph Rentz and Josh Shipman each ended the night with six tackles.
Mountain View improved to 5-4 overall on the season and 1-3 in conference play securing their playoff spot, while Riverview fell to 0-8 on the season and 0-4 in conference play.
Next week Mountain View will host the Melbourne Bearkatz in the final regular-season game of the season.
The pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m. and kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Arkansas 103.3.
