Blue Devils fall on the road

CASEY CROWE
Tucson Citizen

MESA - Perennial powerhouse Mesa Mountain View High School, one of the largest schools in the state, barely avoided a homecoming defeat, edging out Sunnyside 21-14.

The Blue Devils, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A Division II, racked up 100 yards in penalties and continually found themselves in long- yardage situations.

"These kids played much, much better than we did last week, but we did make some mistakes," said Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez, referring to a painful loss at the hands of Sabino.

Sunnyside (3-2) tied the game at 14 with just over five minutes left in the game when quarterback Jaime Valdez found Patrick Medina for a perfectly thrown 16-yard touchdown.

But Mountain View (4-1), a 5A Division I school, responded, taking the next drive 69 yards in just under three minutes, mainly through the air. The drive was capped by a 5-yard run into the end zone from running back Micah Yetter.

The Blue Devils' final drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down.

"Sunnyside is a very, very good football team. They might have the best defense we'll see all year," Mountain View coach Tom Joseph said. "But our kids played well down the stretch. And that made for a nice win."

Blue Devils running back Jovan Stevenson fell short of the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, carrying the ball 15 times for 72 yards.

"We came out with a lot of attitude, a lot of fight," Sanchez said. "But Mountain View is a really good football team. So our kids have nothing to be ashamed of."