OREM — What a difference a halftime can make.
After falling behind 14-0 in the first half, Mountain View came out after the break with energy and purpose to score 17 unanswered points and walk away with an emotional 17-14 win over West Jordan Friday night.
C.J. Garner's 37-yard field goal as time expired broke a 14-14 tie and gave the Bruins the victory.
In the second half, first-year Bruin coach Teko Johnson turned the offense completely over to running back T.J. Mounga, who rushed for 139 yards on 16 carries in the half.
"I saw T.J. doing this last night," said a visibly emotional Johnson. "I visualized him running the ball. I don't know what to say."
When asked what he told the team at halftime, Johnson said simply, "I told them we were going to run the ball."
Johnson followed through on his halftime comments by handing the ball off almost exclusively to Mounga.
During the Bruins' final drive, starting at their own 34-yard line with 1:13 remaining in the game, Mark Garrett handed the ball five consecutive times to Mounga, who rushed for 35 yards. Add on a West Jordan face-mask penalty, and that put the Bruins in position for Garner's game-winning kick.
The Bruins tied the game at 14-14 with 6:20 remaining in the game on another run by Mounga following a Jace Rogers interception of a Cache Morgan
pass. The interception gave Mountain View the ball on its own 40-yard line. Mounga took the next play 60 yards for the touchdown.
The Bruins' first score also resulted from an interception of a Morgan pass just minutes into the second half. Chase Pola intercepted the pass on a third-and-seven play at the West Jordan 34-yard line. Five plays later Garrett ran the ball in from 19 yards out.
Garrett's two interceptions came after throwing two touchdown passes in the first half. With 5:51 remaining in the second quarter, he capped a 75-yard drive with a 25-yard pass to Jordan Weirick. He also threw to D.J. Tialavea for a two-point conversion.
The Jaguars appeared to be rolling minutes later when Garrett connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Udy, but they clearly couldn't maintain the momentum through the halftime break.
Both teams move to 1-1 records.