LOVELAND — It was one play late in the third quarter that put a stamp on Saturday’s Class 3A first-round game between Pueblo East and Mountain View at Ray Patterson Field.
Mountain Lions senior running back Steve Ryan ran around the right side and then over Eagles defensive back Dre Hall for a 31-yard gain, a sure sign that the home team had simply overpowered its opponent.
Mountain View (10-1) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 45-27 victory over the resurrected Eagles and will face another Steel City opponent in Pueblo County next week at the Hornets Nest.
“They were strong in the first half,” said Ryan, who finished with a game-high 189 yards on 22 carries. “We need to be better in the first half next time out.”
Pueblo East (7-4), winners of just two games over the past four years and in the playoffs for the first time since 1996, gave the Mountain Lions trouble in the first half. Dual-threat quarterback Jordan Ward evened the game at 10-10 midway through the second quarter with a 19-yard run around the right side.
Mountain View answered with 23 seconds left in the first half with the first of three 9-yard Logan Moore touchdown passes, this one to A.J. Sisneros.
The onus was on the Eagles’ defense to come up with a stop on Mountain View’s first possession of the second half. Instead, the Mountain Lions went 48 yards in 11 plays, with Moore hooking up with Ryan for the score.
“Third and fourth quarter, we’ve been extremely strong all season long,” said Mountain View coach Bart Mayes, whose team was 2-8 last season in Class 4A. “We knew with our offensive line we could drive down and make a statement right away.”
Another score by Joey Hlushak late in the third, combined with just six offense plays for Pueblo East in the quarter, all but put the game out of reach for coach David Ramirez’s Eagles.
Ward, in his first year at quarterback, completed 14-of-28 pass for 221 yards but was intercepted three times. He also led the Eagles with 34 yards on the ground.
“We just came out a little bit flat in the second half,” Ramirez said. “You do that against a good team like Mountain View, that’ll bite you in the butt.”
Pueblo East 3 7 0 17 — 27
Mountain View 3 14 14 14 — 45
MV — FG Svobodny 37. PE — FG Torrez 31. MV — J. Hlushak 3 run (Svobodny kick). PE — Ward 19 run (Torrez kick). MV — Sisneros 9 pass from Moore (Svobodny kick). MV — Ryan 9 pass from Moore (Svobodny kick). MV — J. Hlushak 11 run (Svobodny kick). PE — Ward 1 run (Torrez kick). MV — Ryan 8 run (Svobodny kick). MV — Netzel 9 pass from Moore (Svobodny kick). PE — Safety, Garcia. PE — Sandoval 27 pass from Taibi (Taibi run).
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
