Marana Mountain View has played one of the most difficult schedules in Division II and it is beginning to pay off. Coaches, parents, players and even a few prep writers have scratched their heads trying to figure out the team rankings but most forget to look at strength of schedule.

Based on the top 16 teams in D-II, only Peoria Centennial has played a more difficult schedule up to this point with an Average Opponent Rating (APR) of roughly 5.75. Mountain View comes in with the second highest at 3.87 that is why, even with three losses, the team is so highly ranked.

True, their victory over Salpointe a week ago put them back into playoff contention, but the team followed that up with a 41-16 victory over Casa Grande Vista Grande Friday night to put them in a tie with Ironwood Ridge in Section 5.

Ironwood Ridge (6-1, 2-0) and Mountain View (4-3, 2-0) will be battling it out next Friday with the winner taking a commanding lead for the section title and the automatic bid that comes with it. Salpointe (6-1, 1-1) will still have a lot to say since they have yet to play Ironwood Ridge while Tucson High (3-4, 1-1) still has both Mountain View and Salpointe on their schedule.

Vista Grande (2-5, 0-2) and Rincon/UHS (1-6, 0-2) are out of the race but can still help decide who will get in.

Justice Summerset threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Vista Grande with 298 of those coming in the first half when the team built a 28-0 lead.

The Mountain View defense was also up to the task with at least seven sacks and multiple hits that resulted in Vista Grande quarterback Nathan Agmata only gaining 10 yards on 21 carries. Agmata did finish with 163 yards passing with a touchdown but most took place in spots and in the second half.

Stanley Berryhill led Mountain View with 141 yards receiving and a 20-yard touchdown grab. Corey Matthews added 75 yards and two touchdowns and Jeff Cotton had 66 yards receiving before he left the game at the half with a minor injury.

Matthews put the Mountain Lions up 7-0 on a 10-yard grab and then 14-0 on a 54-yard catch. Tommy Lawrence scored on a 4-yard catch and Mountain View held a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

Lawrence scored again in the opening moments of the second quarter after he picked up a fumble and ran it back 63 yards for the score.

JP Ramirez had an especially good game on defense for Mountain View with two fumble recoveries including one in the end zone to give Mountain View a 34-0 lead (kick missed).

"We were able to make the play after we broke through the line," said Ramirez. "I saw it was a bad handoff and went for it. It was my first defensive touchdown."

Jake Darrow also terrorized Vista Grande with three sacks but William Marson had a pretty good night for Vista Grande with three sacks including one for a safety to put Vista Grande on the board, 34-2.

Nathan Cota scored from four yards out later in the game to cut the lead down to 34-9 and Agmata hit Nikolas Halter on a 30-yard pass to make the score 34-16 with 7:17 left in the game but backup QB Anthony Leyva hit Berryhill on a 20-yard pass for the 41-16 final margin.

Sam Ross led Mountain View with 30 yards rushing and Daniel Padilla had 37 for Vista Grande.

"We started out slowly but we are starting to pick it," added Ramirez. "We need to get ready because our next game is big."

The Vista Grande coaching staff told their team they made Mounatin View play every quarter. That much is true, but the Nighthawks will force Mountain View to compete on every play from beginning to end. They cannot afford a second-half letdown.

More photos at AllSportsTucson.com