Mountain View is following a near identical script as it did this time a year ago.

On Monday, the offensive players and coaches went out to lunch before watching film, getting a lift in before practicing. Tuesday was a team dinner after practice. Wednesday was the same as Monday, only with the defensive players. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, the players’ parents were invited to watch practice then enjoy a pancake breakfast with the team.

Then Friday morning, around 8 a.m., the team will load onto the buses and make the drive over the mountains (with a lunch break at Olive Garden) to Hillsboro Stadium to play Wilsonville for the Class 5A football state championship for the second consecutive season.

“I asked the kids if they wanted to change anything, and they said, ‘No, coach,’” said Mountain View coach Brian Crum. “The only thing we are going to change is hopefully the outcome.”

Friday’s championship game will kickoff at 4:30 p.m.

A year ago, the Cougars marched down inside the 15-yard line with less than a minute to go, trailing by six, but could not find the end zone for the game-winning score. Wilsonville won the 5A title that evening, 29-23, denying Mountain View an undefeated season and its first state title since 2011.

As fate would have it, No. 2 Mountain View (12-0 overall) and No. 5 Wilsonville (10-2) will again go toe-to-toe for the state championship.

“I’m excited,” said Mountain View senior defensive back and wideout Brady Kennedy, who had an interception in last year’s championship game. “Obviously it is a redemption game going against those guys again. Hopefully we can come out with a better outcome. Going back to last year, I remember pulling up to the stadium and getting chills. I’m ready for that. We are going to go out and compete, and hopefully win a state championship.”

Angel Valenzuela was a little more succinct about facing the team that kept the Cougars from winning their first state title in 12 years.

“All I got to say is, revenge story,” the junior running back and defensive end said.

Wilsonville is playing in its third consecutive state championship game. The Wildcats lost to Summit in the 2021 5A title game before beating Mountain View last fall. This postseason, the reigning champions pulled off a couple of upsets to make it back to Hillsboro Stadium.

After beating Bend High in the first round, Wilsonville went on the road to defeat No. 4 Churchill 34-6, before stunning No. 1 Silverton 32-29 in the semifinals.

While the Cougars won’t have to worry about chasing down last year’s Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Kallen Gutridge, there are still multiple players returning from last year’s championship squad.

It starts with senior Mark Wiepert, last year’s Defensive Player of the Year, who tallied 17 tackles in the championship game a year ago. Oh, and he also plays quarterback for the Wildcats this season. Senior Nick Crowley had 111 yards receiving and caught two touchdowns in the 2023 title game. And senior defensive lineman Emmett Fee finished with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack for the Wildcats.

“They got some of those guys who were studs last year and they are still studs, if not better this year,” Crum said. “I don’t know if we’ve seen a player faster than Crowley. I don’t think we’ve seen anyone as fast and strong as Mark Wiepert. I said last year that I thought he was the best football player in 5A as a junior. Now they put him in at quarterback and he can throw the ball 75 yards and do crazy things.”

But the Cougars also boast lots of talented players. After all, they have won 24 of their last 25 games and are the undefeated Intermountain Conference champions. Mountain View averaged more than 40 points per game while giving up less than 18 points in each of its three playoff wins to get back to the championship for the second straight year — a feat never accomplished before in program history.

Senior quarterback Mason Chambers has been dynamic under center this season, throwing for 38 touchdowns. Valenzuela is coming off a dominant performance, with over 230 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the 40-17 semifinal win last Friday against West Albany. The Mountain View defense has been one of the toughest teams to score against in the state, giving up only 8.3 points per game.

When the Cougars load onto the bus Friday morning all the work will be done. The months of practice will be completed, all the weights lifted and film watched. All that will be left to do is play one final game, a rematch, for the state title.

“Do we know them well? Yeah, and they know us. Was it a great battle last year that came down to the last eight seconds? Yeah,” Crum said. “You don’t care who the opponent is. When you get there, whoever it is, you scheme for them, you watch some film and then you go out there and play.”

Mountain View received good news late Tuesday evening when it got word from the Oregon Schools Activities Association that its star wide receiver and safety would be eligible to play in Friday’s Class 5A football state championship game.

Jack Foley, who is committed to play football at Washington State next fall, was ejected from last week’s semifinal game after being flagged for two unsportsmanlike penalties in the first half. The Cougars played the remainder of the game without Foley and won 40-17 over West Albany.

Foley was also facing a one-game suspension but Mountain View appealed, and the OSAA overturned the suspension, according to Mountain View coach Brian Crum.

— Bulletin staff report