Mountain View's Nick Hjelm, left, pulls in ball for a first down during first half Friday against Summit.

All week, Mountain View knew what it had to do Friday night.

The Cougars realized crosstown rival Summit was coming in, needing only a victory to secure its first Class 5A Intermountain Conference football title in school history.

But Mountain View quarterback Conor Nehl shared his team’s mindset, and the Cougars voiced it at midfield before the opening kickoff. They must protect the IMC.

Sure, Mountain View piled up 496 yards of offense and posted 42 unanswered points. But the Cougs rode their stout, suffocating defense to a 42-7 league win at Mountain View High School.

“They just got after it, played physical, made our reads,” said Cougars coach Brian Crum, whose team opened IMC play on Friday. “When they play like that, we’re going to be a pretty good football team.”

That defense limited the Storm to just 93 yards of total offense while recovering two fumbles, denying Summit a chance to defeat both Bend High and Mountain View in the same season for the first time since 2004.

While Mountain View (1-0 IMC, 5-2 overall) clamped down on the Storm defensively, Nehl and running back Keegan Springer carried the load for the offense.

Nehl completed 12 of 18 passes for three touchdowns and 204 yards, including a stretch to open the second half when the senior connected on four straight passes for 83 yards and a score. Springer, meanwhile, ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns, guiding the Cougars to their third consecutive win of the season.

“We were just doing our jobs,” Nehl said of Mountain View’s string of 42 straight points. “We broke down in those first couple drives. We just picked it up after that and started rolling.”

Summit (2-1, 4-3) seized momentum out of the gate, with Tyler Mullen picking off a Nehl pass on Mountain View’s first possession and returning it 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Storm an early 7-0 lead.

“After that, I just knew I had to make up for it,” Nehl said. “And my receivers made a lot of good plays. They bailed me out a lot.”

The Cougars clung to a 14-7 halftime lead, but after the break, Springer and Nehl led a resurgent Cougar offense.

Springer logged a pair of rushing scores, Nehl connected with Dantly Wilcox for two touchdowns, and Mountain View ran away with the IMC win.

“We got a little momentum early,” said Summit coach Joe Padilla, whose starting quarterback, Bransen Reynolds, was sidelined with a shoulder injury in the first quarter. “But Mountain View, great football team. They played with a lot more emotion than we did tonight, unfortunately. All the credit to them. They came out, and they brought it. We knew at halftime that they would come out and try to send a message, and they did.”

Mullen led the way for the Storm, completing 3 of 7 passes for 22 yards and rushing for 35 yards on 11 carries. Ben Miller ran for 22 yards, but Summit was held to just 64 yards on the ground and less than 100 in total offense.

“It’s right up there, for sure,” Crum said, comparing the Cougars’ defensive performance on Friday with the previous six contests. “(Summit has) got a lot of good weapons. (Mullen) is a heck of a football player, and they’ve done some pretty good things against some good teams. To see our kids step up and respond, we talk about the train rolling down the track and our momentum is building, so it was good to see it tonight.”

The Storm saw their string of two straight wins come to an end, and possibly their shot at the IMC championship. But Padilla still has faith in his club.

“I think our kids are resilient,” Padilla said. “I believe in our kids that they’re going to come back next week and have a great week of practice and go in against Crook County (next Friday) and do well. … It’s one game at a time for us from here on out.”

Atop the Cougars’ to-do list this week: protect the IMC. They did, and they are two wins away from returning to the top of the conference for the seventh time in the past eight years. Mountain View placed second to Redmond in 2012.

“It feels great,” Springer said. “It gives us a shot to move up the steps and get the IMC (title).”