The Mountain View football team won its playoff game against Homestead on Friday. The team had lost 34-20 to Homestead earlier this season. 

Mountain View and Homestead battled for the first points, but Homestead ultimately took the lead by scoring a touchdown 10 minutes into the game. The Spartans continued to fight, but ended the first quarter down 7-0.

Homestead continued its scoring streak in the second quarter with a field goal, bringing the team’s total score to 10. Mountain View then went on to score a touchdown and try, making the score 7-10, with Homestead in the lead. 

The two teams went scoreless for the majority of the second quarter until Homestead scored a touchdown with 50 seconds on the clock. With 11 seconds left on the clock, junior receiver Lex Silver caught a touchdown pass, and the Spartans scored the field goal. Still, the first half ended with Homestead in the lead, 14-17.

“The biggest challenge was definitely finding ourselves in the first half, but coach gave a speech inside of the [locker room] and we found ourselves, and found our rhythm, and then we dominated,” sophomore Diego Ortega-Gerow said. 

And find their rhythm they did; the Spartans scored a touchdown 5 minutes into the third quarter, and did the same just three minutes later, bringing the score to 28-17 with Mountain View in the lead. 

Silver noted sophomore Villami Sekona’s interception for a touchdown as

 one of the most impactful plays of the game. 

“When Ami got his pick six, that’s when I knew that we

had it,” Silver said.

Mountain View scored another touchdown and extra point, closing the third quarter with a 35-17 lead.

The two teams remained deadlocked for the first third of the fourth quarter until Homestead scored a touchdown, bringing the score to 35-23. 

The Spartans  followed with another two touchdowns over the span of the next four minutes, securing the team’s victory with a score of 48-23. 

“[The win] shows us finding ourselves and the coaches were doing an amazing job of helping us get there,” Ortega Gerow said.

Mountain View will play their next playoff game this Friday, the 18th at home.