Salpointe wins battle up front to top Mountain View 38-20

With those two leading the way, the Lancers punished the visiting Mountain Lions 38-20 to move to 2-0 on the season.

“We talked all week, believe me, that the game would have to be won up front,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “I really thought our offensive line and defensive line did an outstanding job.”

Mountain View (0-1) struck first — and incredibly early, on just its second play of the game — as Isaiah Lovett climbed the back of Salpointe defensive back Jason Parrish to pull in a deep pass from Caleb Ryden and took it in for the 53-yard touchdown.

Salpointe would respond in kind as Padilla flashed some moves of his own, corralling a Sean Barton pass up the middle, juking two defenders to the ground and continuing into the end zone.

“I wanted to go into the game conservatively and pound the ball, but they scored so quick that we went into our 11-personnel,” Bene said. “Honestly, answering so quickly really gave our team a ton of confidence and the kids never looked back.”

Just when it appeared to be a shootout, the defenses took over — or rather, the offenses faltered. Ryden threw an interception that Salpointe returned to midfield; on the Lancers’ ensuing possession, however, Trevor Volpe fumbled at the Mountain View 4-yard line, ending the threat.

Two series later, though, Padilla hit paydirt again.

A 34-yard connection from Barton to DeMarco Vasquez set Salpointe up with good field position and the Lancers capitalized with a Padilla 5-yard touchdown run to take the lead.

The Lancers had a chance to add to the lead, but another Volpe fumble and a missed field goal near the end of the half preserved the seven-point lead.

“We felt like we left some points on the field,” Bene said. “But I thought it was a really complete game. We talk every week about one practice at a time, and today we talked about one play at a time. They’re gonna make plays, just regroup, and I thought we did that to a tee tonight.”

The Mountain Lions looked like they would tie it up on the first drive of the second half, as instant offense again got them down the field. Mountain View had two 17-yard runs and a 12-yard gain to set the offense up at Salpointe’s 22-yard line, but Tober returned a fumble 78 yards for a touchdown to put the Lancers ahead by 14.

“This was exactly the game plan,” Tober said. “We knew they were going long the whole night and I had enough time to get to the quarterback, and on that one play, I just got to the ball and it was clear sailing from there.”

After Mountain View failed to convert a fourth down inside Salpointe territory on the ensuing series, Padilla reeled off runs of 22 and 10 yards — aided by a 10-yard facemask penalty — and capped off the drive with a 6-yard score to give Salpointe the 28-7 edge.

Just when it appeared Padilla was done for the evening, he hit again. Midway through the fourth quarter, he broke off a 22-yard run, then followed with a 45-yard scoring sprint to cap off his big night.

“Two weeks ago, Trevor got hurt and I knew it was my time to step up,” Padilla said. “I just have to get better and better and I have to keep that going until we get to state.”

Lovett would add another touchdown through the air for Mountain View, finishing with seven catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. http://tinyurl.com/hwys7uo