FOOTBALL: Mills Suffers Another Tough Defeat

Mountain View 48, Mills 0.

The Star: In just his second varsity game, Mountain View's Marcus Jones rushed for 191 yards and five touchdowns on 14 carries. The sophomore scored on three straight carries during a first quarter in which Mills fell behind 28-0.

The Turning Point: The opening quarter. An interception and two botched punts that went for negative yards repeatedly handed Mountain View pristine field position – and the Spartans made Mills pay with an early onslaught.

The Quote: "We get down easy. We just have to keep going, make the easy plays, make the tackles. We give up too many big plays."  -- Mills quarterback Brandon Berkovatz, on what ails the 0-3 Vikings

What's Next?  Mills hosts Gunderson – the Vikings' fourth straight home game – on Sept. 24 at 3:15 p.m.

Bottom Line: The Vikings' inability to stop the run – Mountain View totaled 287 yards on just 30 carries – continues to let the opponent control the game. On the other side of the ball, Mills has shown promise in a developing passing game but saw its offense get shut out for the second game in a row.

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Mills High football coach Packy Moss hopes his team is learning lessons from its rough start to the 2010 season. The Vikings' fortitude is certainly being tested as Mills fell to 0-3 with a 48-0 non-league loss to visiting Mountain View on Saturday afternoon.

"I'm hoping that they're starting to understand that to be a good team, you've got to be in shape," Moss said. "You've got to be strong. You've got to put in the time in the offseason to be prepared for this. And we've got to do a better job of this."

Poor run defense had been the biggest factor in Mills' first two defeats – 41-20 to Galileo and 57-7 to Los Altos – and it didn't take long for that trend to resurface against Mountain View (2-0).

Fueled by a series of misadventures deep in its own territory, Mills saw the Spartans begin their first four possessions in Viking territory – including twice at 1-yard line and another time at the 12.

Mountain View sophomore Marcus Jones, who totaled 148 rushing yards in the first half, made the hosts pay by rushing for touchdowns on three straight carries to give his team a 21-0 lead hardly seven minutes into the game.

Jones, who added a 40-yard touchdown run to make it 41-0 at halftime and later a 14-yard score, finished his five-touchdown day with 191 yards on just 14 rushes.

"Stopping the run? It's a huge concern," said Moss, whose defense surrendered 287 rushing yards – the fewest it has allowed this season. "We've got guys in the right position – just got to tackle better. We need better line penetration."

The Vikings' developing passing game had some bright moments – quarterback Brandon Berkovatz completed five passes of at least 13 yards, to four different receivers. But the 6-foot-6 junior also threw three interceptions – the last on a desperate attempt to get Mills onto the scoreboard on the final play of the game.

Berkovatz finished 16-of-32 passing for 87 yards. Jacob Rodriguez had a game-high five receptions for 16 yards, and Kaushar Singh totaled 34 yards on three catches. Six Vikings recorded at least one reception.

But the offense was held scoreless for the second straight game. Overall, the shutout was Mills' first since a 39-point decision to San Mateo in November 2008 – a span of 14 games.

The Vikings rushed 20 times for 66 yards. Junior Weyland Quan accounted for nearly half of that output with a 31-yard scamper.

Mills' Marcus Chew, who scored an 85-yard touchdown on a kick return a week ago, again performed well on special teams. He returned three kicks for 64 yards. Quan added returns of 17 and 20 yards.

Afterwards, Berkovatz, a second-year starter, said Mills knows it can improve in all facets of the game, especially its "focus."

"We get down easy," he said. "We just have to keep going, make the easy plays, make the tackles. We give up too many big plays."

With two non-league games remaining, Berkovatz said the Vikings will be a battle-tested unit when they open their Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division season.

"It will make us better for league," he said of the tough non-league slate.

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Mountain View 48, Mills 0

Mtn. View – 28 13 7 0 – 48

Mills – 0 0 0 0 – 0

Mtn. View – Jones 1 run (Auerbach kick)

Mtn. View – Jones 1 run (Auerbach kick)

Mtn. View – Jones 10 run (Auerbach kick)

Mtn. View – Roy 1 run (Auerbach kick)

Mtn. View – Hand 17 run (kick failed)

Mtn. View – Jones 40 run (Auerbach kick)

Mtn. View – Jones 14 run (Auerbach kick)

RUSHING: Mtn. View: Jones 14-191, Roy 2-44, Hand 1-17, Butler 2-minus-1, Hayes 6-20, Schaumburg 5-16. Totals: 30-287.  Mills: Rodriguez 5-6, Quan 7-37, Berkovatz 8-23. Totals: 20-66.

PASSING: Mtn. View: Butler 3-8-0-32.  Mills: Berkovatz 16-32-3-87.

RECEIVING: Mtn. View: Hand 2-20, Halsted 1-12.  Mills: Rodriguez 5-16, Singh 3-34, Quan 4-4, Casper 1-4, Chew 1-13, Patel 2-16.

FUMBLES/LOST: Mtn. View 1/0.  Mills 2/0.

RECORDS: Mountain View 2-0.  Mills 0-3.