High school football: Mountain View Bruins 2020 preview

Note: Mountain View finished with a 9-3 overall record in 2019 and was third in Region 10 with a 5-2 record. It was RPI seed No. 7 in the 4A playoffs, and was eliminated by Sky View 56-13 in quarterfinals.

OREM — Long gone are the days when Mountain View had trouble just piecing together a roster, with Mountain View looking to continue its upward swing in the 2020. Armed with several returning starters, the Bruins on paper appear to be a team that can legitimately contend for a region championship and make a deep run in the playoffs.

Head coach: Tyler Anderson

Entering his fifth year at Mountain View, and 13^th season overall as a head coach in Utah. His Mountain View teams posted a 17-27 record in the past four years. He’s been a head coach at four other schools, Tooele (2000-2003), Harmony, Fla. (2004-2007) and Orem (2011 to 2014). His all-time coaching record in Utah is 67-67, including a state title at Tooele in 2002.

“We’re confident,” said Mountain View coach Tyler Anderson. “We’ll need to stay healthy — just like it is every year, but we have some good players returning and think we have a chance to be pretty good this year.”

Last season saw the Bruins jump out to six straight wins before losing in the quarterfinal round of the 4A state playoffs to eventual state champion Sky View.

Naturally, the goal this year is to at least meet the quarterfinal mark, with hopes of advancing to the state semifinal round, which wouldn’t be a small thing for the program.

“It’s taken a while to get this thing going, but we’ve had great support. Credit goes to the kids and all the work they’ve put in,” Anderson said. “But it’s a new year, and we’ll have to work hard, much like any other year.”

The Bruins will have their work cut out in Week 1, taking on defending 5A state champion Orem, before settling into what appears to be a manageable schedule which could yield a good share of wins.

“We have a competitive region, but a region I feel we can compete again in,” Anderson said. “I like the work the kids have done so far, and we just need to keep that going and need to stay healthy. Staying healthy is a real big thing for us.”

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Mountain View Bruins at a glance

Coach Anderson’s thoughts on how his players dealt the COVID-19 adversity in the spring and summer:

“I’ve told the kids to just go about everything as if the season is going to happen as normal, and they’ve responded well in doing just that. If it doesn’t happen like we’re preparing for, then we’ll cross that bridge, but we can only control so much.

“But it’s real great to be back and have that release after being at home so long. Kids have really looked forward to it and are working hard to make the best of it, and I like what I’ve seen so far.”

2020 Schedule

Aug. 14 — OREM, 7 p.m.

Aug. 21 — at Timpanogos, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4 — at Ogden, 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 — UINTAH, 7 p.m.

Sept. 18 — BEN LOMOND, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25 — at Park City, 7 p.m.

Oct. 2 — STANSBURY, 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 — CEDAR VALLEY, 7 p.m.

Oct. 14 — at Tooele, 7 p.m.

Mountain View Offensive Snapshot

Offensive coordinator: Tyler Anderson

2019 offense: 34.5 ppg (6th in 4A)

2019 offensive statistics

• 7 returning starters
• Spread offense

Returning offensive starters

• McKay Strauss (RB)
• David Hair (WR)
• Jett Anderson (WR)
• Colton Burr (WR)
• Jacob Brittain (OL)
• Matthias Perez (WR)
• Junior Teaupa (OL)

Offensive newcomers to watch

• Kaden Kunz (QB)
• Jackson McCarty (QB)
• Micah Madry (QB)

Coach Anderson’s keys for offensive success in 2020:

“I’m excited for our offense. We have a lot of good kids coming back, but the key will be finding a quarterback, and that’s not a small thing. But we have some good candidates to play at quarterback who we have good confidence in. If the season were to start tomorrow, I’d probably go with Kaden Kunz, but we have some time to see what the other guys can do.

“We really like our receivers. We have a lot of good guys returning and the potential to be really good there. We also have a 1,000 yard rusher back in McKay Strauss, so our new quarterback will have a lot of help around him.”

Mountain View Defensive Snapshot

Defensive coordinator: Ken Kunz

2019 defense: 19.0 ppg (5th in 4A)

2019 defensive statistics

• 6 returning starters
• 4-3 defense

Returning defensive starters

• Junior Teaupa (DL)
• Chris Esparza (DL)
• Liam Hone (LB)
• Aaron Hyatt (DB)
• Kade Kunz (DB)
• McKay Strauss (LB)

Defensive newcomers to watch

• Justin Chicoaski (DL)

Coach’s keys for offensive success in 2020:

“I think our defensive line will be our strength on defense, and we have some real good guys coming back on that side of the ball. And then Liam Hone is a real good leader for us at linebacker, which you love to have a good and experienced guy there. We have to replace some good defensive backs, but I think we’ll be fine back there.”

Deseret News outlook for 2020

Mountain View has a lot of key parts in place, although losing the services of Deuce Anderson at quarterback looms large. Deuce started three years for the Bruins and replacing that type of experience won’t be easy. Should the Bruins find an adequate replacement for Deuce, then an improvement over last season’s performance could well be in store.

Certainly Mountain View should be able to see a lot of success against a relatively weak region and finish near or at the top of Region 10, setting it up for a good postseason run.

Felt’s Facts for Mountain View

• All-time record: 174-229 (40 years)
• Region championships: 5 (1983, 1985 co, 1989, 1999, 2004 co)

• Playoff appearances: 21

• All-time playoff record: 14-21

• State championships: 0

• State championship record: 0-0

• Most played rivalry: 40 meetings with Orem dating back to 1980. Orem leads 32-8.


Last 5 Seasons

• 2019 — 9-3 (5-2 in Region 10 – 4A Quarterfinals)
• 2018 — 5-6 (2-3 in Region 10 – 4A First round)
• 2017 — 3-8 (2-3 in Region 10 – 4A First round)
• 2016 — 0-10 (0-7 in Region 7 - Missed playoffs)
• 2015 — 1-9 (1-5 in Region 7 – Missed playoffs)

Mountain View coaching history


• 2016-current — Tyler Anderson (17-27)
• 2014-2015 — Louis Wong (3-17)

• 2010-2013 — Jon Snyder (13-28)

• 2007-2009 — Teko Johnson (14-17)

• 2003-2006 — Doug Meeks (11-30)

• 1995-2002 — Randy Rehrer (44-40)

• 1991-1994 — Bryce Monsen (21-19)

• 1987-1990 — Steve Park (20-17)

• 1982-1986 — Austin McNaughton (24-24)

• 1980-1981 — Dave Allphin (10-10)


Deseret News All-State Archives

Check out our archives of Deseret News all-state teams from 1929 to 2019 at Deseret.com.

Mountain View All-State at-a-glance

Deseret News First Team all-staters the past 10 years


• 2019 — Elwood Afalava, DE
• 2018 — Hunter Schroeder, LB
• 2018 — Jace Dart, S
• 2011 — Bennett Maxwell, LB