With a balanced offense and run-stuffing defense, Mountain View guaranteed itself at least a share of the Intermountain Conference football championship Friday night with a convincing 37-14 victory over visiting Ridgeview.

Mountain View (3-0 IMC, 7-1 overall) overcame three first-half turnovers. Quarterback Mike Irwin had a hand in four touchdowns, Cody Anthony had 135 yards rushing and a score on 20 carries and the Cougars’ defense held Ridgeview to just 219 total yards — only 67 of which were on the ground.

“We were putting up a lot of yards but not enough points (in the first half),” said Mountain View coach Brian Crum, whose team led 10-0 at halftime. “We told the kids at the half we just need to finish and punctuate things.”

The Cougars scored the first two touchdowns of the second half and grabbed a 24-0 lead that the Ravens (0-3, 3-5) never seriously challenged.

Irwin turned in another impressive performance, completing 13 of 17 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. The sophomore signal caller also ran for 72 yards and two scores on 12 carries. The Cougars racked up 495 yards of total offense and 27 first downs Friday with Irwin leading the way.

“He’s getting more experience in this offense and it’s starting to show,” Crum said of Irwin. “He’s a dynamic player. With him and Cody (Anthony) in the same backfield, teams have to make a choice of whom they’re going to try to stop.”

Senior receiver Chris Adamo proved to be Irwin’s favorite target against the defending Class 4A state champions. Adamo had 176 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches.

“I tell (Irwin) all the time in weights class to get me the ball more,” Adamo said with a laugh after the game.

Ridgeview quarterback Jacob Johnson passed for 152 yards and a score, a 9-yard touchdown pass to Tanner O’Neal. Seth Whitley scored Ridgeview’s other touchdown on a 5-yard run.

“They found the gaps in our offense and exploited them,” Johnson said.

Defensive back Anthony Rushton and lineman Joe Hagenbach recorded six tackles each to lead the Cougar defense and hand the Ravens their third straight defeat.

Both squads gear up for rivalry games next Friday during the final week of the regular season. Mountain View plays at Bend High (2-1, 5-3) and Ridgeview hosts Redmond (0-3, 5-3). The Cougars can claim the IMC outright with a victory over the Lava Bears. A Bend High win would leave Mountain View, Summit and the Lava Bears all tied atop the league standings with matching 3-1 records.

The top two teams from the IMC earn automatic berths into the postseason and the league’s No. 3 squad advances to the playoffs as a wild card if they are ranked higher than the Northwest Oregon Conferences’ fourth-place team.

“It’s Bend week,” Crum said of the upcoming Civil War. “That’s always fun.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0305; beastes@bendbulletin.com.