Two dominant signal callers in Tate Johnson and Ryder Hales are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mountain View Bruins will face off against the Salem Hills Skyhawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Things were looking good for Mountain View after they put the first points on the board on Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They and Timpanogos were almost perfectly matched up, but the Bruins suffered a 29-28 loss. The defeat continues a trend for the Bruins in their meetings with the Timberwolves: they've now lost five in a row.
Mountain View's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Hyrum Stafford, who gained 119 total yards, and Carter Vance, who rushed for 81 yards on only nine carries. Vance's longest rush was for an impressive 52 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Salem Hills). They walked away with a 41-28 win over Uintah on Friday.
Salem Hills' win came from a few key players Mountain View will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Benjamin Staheli, who rushed for 53 yards and one TD. He was even better on defense, making five total tackles and defending three passes in addition to snagging an interception.
Salem Hills' run defense was locked in: Uintah could only muster 3.3 yards per carry. The team can thank Sam Bradford for the heroic effort on defense: he. Salem Hills' ground attack was stronger, having averaged 5.3.
Salem Hills didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Gordon Wilson, Staheli, and Jake Polson picked up one apiece. Bradford was another major factor on D, making 26 total tackles.
Mountain View now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Salem Hills, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Mountain View has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 159.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Salem Hills has preferred to attack from the air: they average 291.7 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Mountain View came up short against Salem Hills when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 17-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Skyhawks' Treygan Fusselman, who rushed for 119 yards while picking up 7.4 yards per carry, and also picked up 69 receiving yards. Now that the Bruins know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
