Varsity football team beats rivals LAHS for the 10th time
Sep 14, 2019
The MVHS varsity football team beat their rivals, the LAHS Eagles, 34-6 for the 10th time in 15 years this Friday, Sept. 13. Their record against the Eagles stands 10-5.
MVHS has won against LAHS for the last two years, making Friday’s win the third in a row. The team hopes to continue the streak.
“We’ve given a couple games away to them earlier, but the last couple years we’ve played well,” said Head Coach Shelley Smith.
Despite the fact that students from both schools know each other well, the rivalry is a strong one.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet relationship,” said varsity co-captain Mauricio D’Arce. “We grew up with all of them… we know a lot of people at LAHS from middle school. But at the end of the day, it’s a rivalry.”
The team stayed calm amidst the pressure. According to D’Arce, their plan was to treat it like any other game.
“We’re trying not to overwhelm ourselves with too much emotion,” D’Arce said. “It’s just like training.”
Varsity captain Trent Steffen agreed. “We play cool, calm, and collected,” Steffen said.
Besides daily practices, reviewing game footage on weekends, and summer training, the team relies on their Thursday night bonding to get close to their teammates and set expectations for the season.
“We have a team hype circle every Thursday,” said D’Arce. “Our energy starts building then and just keeps building until game time.”
According to varsity co-captain Andrew Bice, players are expected to commit to the team and share goals for every game.
“Whatever we say in that bonding circle rallies up the boys and that just pushes us to go harder tomorrow,” Steffen said.
The Eagles have also been preparing. They have a new off-campus coach that, according to Smith, “has done a great job putting the program together.”
“The team looks very organized,” said Smith. “We’ve definitely got our hands full.”
According to Smith, aside from the Eagles’ “competitive battle,” the team had difficulty practicing with the field lights and construction around campus.
“The construction lights are okay,” Smith said. “But they’re not the greatest thing in the world to play under.”
Smith attributes the team’s success despite these obstacles to the vibrant school spirit during games. Friday’s game being at home adds to the energy.
“We have a great relationship with the band, our cheerleaders, the student body, and 6th Man is just tremendous.” Smith said. “Having all these groups come together really makes a difference in how our guys play.”
Louie • Oct 3, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Not even accurate. Three time in a row? Was it really that hard to do some research? Los Altos blew out the Spartans in 2017.
Gary • Oct 12, 2019 at 12:02 pm
MV has beaten LA in football most of the time since the 1970s. But Wilcox just mauled the Spartans 42-3. This is the same Wilcox team that walloped Los Gatos last week 35-0. Wilcox was as good as any football team in the CCS last year – dropping a nail-biter to Menlo-Atherton in the CCS final but winning two extra games to claim one of the dozen lower division “state” championships the state organization cooked up. But the point is that MV football remains average and Los Altos football remains well below average. And the question arises: are the life-long injuries to players worth it? That includes injuries to spines and brains.
Gary • Sep 28, 2019 at 5:29 pm
The 10th time in 15 years. How did you pick 15 years? The schools and football programs are slightly older. They date back to the 60s. Not the 1860s. But over 60 years. Mountain View actually won the Central Coast Section (CCS) football championship in the 70s. It was a bit of a fluke. Monta Vista of Cupertino fumbled the championship game away at Foothill College in the mud and rain. And that was the old Mountain View High School located near what is now Mountain View City Hall (including Eagle Park). But before that, another high school in Mountain View won the CCS championship in football. It was called Awalt. You might have heard of it. Since those days, the best high school football team in Mountain View has been at a private school named St. Francis. But this year could be different. St. Francis is in a down year. Mountain View is 4-0, albeit against weak opponents. The next opponent, Milpitas, is also off this season. But after that, some real opponents show up: Wilcox of Santa Clara, Los Gatos and Palo Alto. Can the Spartans play with those serious opponents? Bring some trick plays.. If MV does somehow run the regular season table. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. And remember, football is only a game.