A8 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022 Sports+Outdoors PREP FOOTBALL Mountain View’s Ben Cockrum (21) stops Redmond’s Nathan Wachs (16) in the backfield Thursday night during the second half of the Intermountain Conference matchup. The Cougars won 45-6. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin STOPPED SHORT Redmond falls again in loss to Mountain View BY BRIAN RATHBONE • CO Media Group D espite being in control for nearly the entire first half against Redmond Thursday evening, there was a brief moment when the Mountain View foot- ball team started to lose its grip on the game. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Redmond’s John Brabb (1) pulls in reception during the first half against Mountain View in Bend Thursday night. The Panthers scored on the opening drive of the second half to trim a 17-point lead to single digits, then forced a turnover on downs on the ensuring Cougar possession to steal a bit of mo- mentum. Mountain View appeared to be on the verge of being in yet another close game. The Cougars ended up on the wrong end of two other close matchups. But on Thursday evening against Redmond (2-4, 0-2 IMC), it would be a different result than the losses to Canby and Southridge. Moun- tain View (4-2, 2-0) would seize momentum and score 28 unanswered points after giving up the Panther touchdown, to win 45-6 and remain unbeaten in Intermountain Conference play. “That was the biggest thing I took away from this game — the kids are starting to learn and they are getting better,” said Mountain View head coach Brian Crum. “They took that mo- mentum and shifted it right back.” In both three-point losses to Canby and Southridge — two top 10 teams in both the OSAA rankings and OSAA coaches poll — the Cougars had to dig themselves out of holes early. “You want to play in those close games,” Brian Crum said. “You learn about yourselves in those types of games. The more pressure situations you are in, the better football player and better athlete you are going to be.” There was no slow start for Mountain View against Redmond. Junior Connor Calvert kicked a 22-yard field goal, junior tight end Jackson Hersch hauled in a four-yard touch- down and sophomore wideout Jack Foley caught a 23-yard touchdown from junior quar- terback Connor Crum to give the Cougars a 17-0 lead at halftime. “Those two games (Canby and Southridge), we did not come out right,” said Connor Crum, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the win. “The biggest thing for us this week is to come out and play with maturity. And we did that in the first half by jumping out to a 17-0 lead.” In the opening drive of the second half, Panthers’ senior running back Kyle Littlejohn scored on a one-yard run. Redmond’s scoring play was set up by big plays from senior wideout Nathan Wachs and senior running back Dashel Ferguson. It would be the Panthers only scoring drive of the game. After the Redmond touchdown, Connor Crum had a four-yard rushing touchdown for Mountain View. Senior running back Max Paskewich scored on an 18-yard run and junior Sam Creech caught a 14-yard touchdown pass. To cap off the night, Hersch returned an inter- cepted pass for a short touchdown. Connor Crum finished with 205 yards pass- ing and three touchdown passes, while senior running back Ben Yundt carried the ball 12 times for 172 yards. “We saw a lot of man coverage, my O-line gave me a lot of time, receivers got open,’’ Con- nor Crum said. “It made my job really easy.” On defense, the Cougars forced two turn- overs and blocked three punts. Now Mountain View is on the verge of secur- ing one of the three IMC automatic qualifying playoff spots. A victory on the road next week against Ridgeview would help the Cougars, al- ready with wins over Caldera and Redmond, clinch a playoff spot even before matchups against Summit and Bend High. “Our kids are going to be motivated,” coach Brian Crum said. “Our thought process is that we have to go 1-0 against Ridgeview. Our kids know that next week is about getting into the playoffs.” █ Reporter: 541-383-0307, brathbone@bendbulletin.com PREP SOCCER Ridgeview girls drop Mountain View PREP SCOREBOARD Football Friday’s results Caldera 13, Ridgeview 12 Thursday’s results Mountain View 45, Redmond 6 Volleyball Photo courtesy Heather Cassaro Payton Fiero of Ridgeview shields off an attacker Oct. 3 while playing Mountain View. Wednesday’s results Bend 3, Redmond 0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-10) Bend 3, Ridgeview 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-16) Ridgeview 3, Redmond 0 (25-6, 25-11, 25-15) Thursday’s results Sisters 3, Harrisburg 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-11) Girls soccer Thursday’s results Redmond 2, Mountain View 1 Boys soccer Photo courtesy Heather Cassaro Photo courtesy Heather Cassaro Gabby Nakamura dribbles the ball for Ridgview during a 1-0 win over Mountain View on Oct. 3. Ravens senior goalie Lacy Lewis works to keep the shutout during a 1-0 win for Ridgeview Oct. 3. Thursday’s results Redmond 4, Mountain View 0 Summit 7, Ridgeview 0