Golden Knights rout Raiders 50-0
River View (0) vs. Mount View (50)
Written: Aug 28, 2015
By GARY DOVE
for the Daily Telegraph
WELCH — There could well have been a “No Streaking Zone” sign at Vic Nystrom Stadium Thursday evening when the Golden Knights of Mount View hosted River View's Raiders in the season opener for both McDowell County schools.
The host Knights jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and didn't look back on the way to a 50-0 victory over River View.
One victim of the “No Streaking Zone” was the Raiders' dominance over Mount View in the five initial games in the series since the consolidation of Big Creek and Iaeger into River View in 2010. The Raiders had taken the first five wins before last evening.
A second “Streak” that was stopped was the Knights' 16 game losing skid reaching back into the 2013 campaign.
Second year Golden Knight head coach Larry Thompson picked up his first win, not only as a head high school coach, but his first at Mount View.
Mount View rolled up 290 rushing yards and another 112 through the air in the win.
Thompson said, “I'm excited. I just hope we can continue to get better every week.”
After taking the opening kickoff, the Knights were forced to punt six plays into a drive, but the kick was muffed by the Raiders and recovered at the River View 29.
Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Elijah Collier connected with senior tight end Chris Muncy for an 11 yard score, with 9:48 showing in the opening quarter.
Freshman Elijah Barner kicked the PAT for an early 7-0 Knight advantage.
Junior running back Joseph Hayes found paydirt on the fourth play of the second quarter on an 11 yard dash up the middle, and following Barner's second conversion boot, Mount View was off and running with 10:38 left before intermission.
Hayes lit the scoreboard with six more points at the 2:56 mark before the half on a one yard burst that capped a 6 play, 76 yard march.
After that score, holder Ryan Thompson passed to senior Marquis Bonds out of kick formation for a two point PAT and a 22-0 lead at the break.
Barner made good on Mount View's opening possession of the second half, scoring on a 4 yard ramble off the right side at the 10:31 juncture, for a 28-0 advantage.
Quavon Valentine, a junior in the stable of Knight running backs, reeled off a 31 yard TD up the middle to extend the lead to 34-0 with 6:19 remaining in the third.
With 9:09 left in the contest, sophomore speedster Shemar Hairston burst into the end zone from three yards out and following another Thompson conversion toss, this one to Jaquane Imes, Mount View led 42-0.
Hairston tacked on a final touchdown, this one from 17 yards out, at the 4:50 point of the closing chapter for the final 50-0 win, after the Thompson-to-Imes combination accounted for the final two points on the PAT pass.
Continued Thompson, “ I think the kids battled from start to finish. They played with heart and the pride showed tonight.”
River View, fielding an extremely young team, had troubles on both sides of the football against the Knights.
Third year head coach Gehrig Justice said, “It happened as bad as we thought it could happen. Mount View got the big momentum swing early. After that, between injuries and our inexperience, it seemed like a Chinese fire drill trying to get subs in.”
Mount View will remain home next week, hosting Man in a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1990 Golden Knight Class AAA state runner-up team.
The Raiders will visit Grundy, also next Friday evening.
At Vic Nystrom Stadium
River View............0 0 0 0 — 0
Mount View..........7 15 12 16 — 50
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