Mountain View Thunder: 2019 Washington high school 3A football preview

Here is an inside look at the 2019 Mountain View Thunder football team. Links: Mountain View team page | 2019 schedule | Roster 2018 IN REVIEW 11-2 overall, 5-0

Here is an inside look at the 2019 Mountain View Thunder football team.

Links: Mountain View team page | 2019 schedule | Roster

2018 IN REVIEW

11-2 overall, 5-0 in 3A Greater St. Helens League (first place); lost to O’Dea in the 3A state semifinals, 24-7.

COACHING RESUME

Mountain View Thunder head coach Adam Mathieson. (Photo by Andy Buhler)

Adam Mathieson, 12th season

85-41 record

RETURNING STARTERS

Offense - 1. Defense - 0.

TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

QB Alec Cann 5-9, 165, sr.

TE Dominic Stephens 6-2, 200, sr.

RB Isaiah Johnson 5-8, 150, sr.

WR Davis Delmage 5-8, 145, jr.

OL Gage Rutherford 6-0, 220, jr.

TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

DT Va Ili 5-7, 215, sr.

DB Alec Cann 5-9, 165, sr.

DE Preston Collins 6-4, 290, sr.

LB Malikiah Batties 6-0, 185, sr.

THREE TO SEE

Alec Cann, safety/running back/quarterback

One of the top returning athletes and playmakers. Saw starts at free safety last season and could see time as running back and quarterback.

Preston Collins, defensive end

Second team all-league selection on the offensive line as a junior. 

Davis Delmage, slot receiver

Steps into a void left by Michael Bolds and Philip Earnhardt. Older brother Mitchell was a former Thunder standout, plays football for Washington State. 

OUTLOOK

Ask around the 3A Greater St. Helens League, and coaches will repeat a similar refrain: until somebody beats them, it’s Mountain View’s league. 

But even for a team that lost 21 of its 22 starters — 31 seniors — from a group that made the 3A state semifinals, the Thunder can’t be counted out. 

That’s been the case for the past three seasons, a stretch in which the Thunder have not lost a league game (15-0). It’s become a constant for the group led by coach Adam Mathieson, whose system and method of preaching focusing on going “1-0 each week” isn’t just coachspeak.

But who exactly will be stepping in for last year’s graduated co-all-league players of the year, running back Jack Mertens and quarterback Garrett Moen, and their senior-heavy lineup is a bit of an unknown. 

Senior Alec Cann, who had a game-sealing pick in the league-deciding win at Kelso last year, will play quarterback and senior Isaiah Johnson will be running back. And junior Davis Delmage will play slot receiver, continuing the legacy of his older brothers Mitchell Delmage and Sean Delmage.

2019 SCHEDULE

Sept 6: at Union, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13: Juanita, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 20: at Battle Ground, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27: Heritage, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4: Hudson’s Bay, 7 p.m.

Oct. 11: at Prairie, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18: at Evergreen, 7 p.m. 

Oct. 25: Kelso, 7 p.m.

Nov. 1: BYE

*home games in bold

PHOTOS