Week 9 football preview: Columbia River vs. Mountain View

When, where: 8 p.m. Friday at McKenzie Stadium (4A Greater St. Helens League game). Radio: 1550 AM or www.1550talk.com.

Last meeting: Mountain View won 61-6 on Oct. 29, 2010.

COLUMBIA RIVER (5-3, 3-2)

Last week: lost to Skyview 36-29.

Players to watch: QB Clayton Frank 87-150, 993 yds passing, 5 TDs, 104-466 yds rushing, 8 TDs; RB Remick Kawawaki 102-989 yards, 11 TDs; WR Dennis Henderson 32-402, 1 TD.

Notes: River had a lot of success running the ball against Skyview. Kawawaki ran for 152 and Frank added 68. … But River also had trouble stopping the run, giving up 272 yards to Skyview’s Parker Henry. That’s a bad sign heading into a matchup with the run-first Thunder. … Frank is a threat to pass or run. He was efficient passing last week, hitting on 8 of 11 attempts. … River needs to win this game to keep its postseason hopes alive. A River win would face a three-team tiebreaker to decide the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in the 3A state preliminary playoffs.

MOUNTAIN VIEW (6-2, 4-1)

Last week: beat Hudson’s Bay 42-0.

Players to watch: QB Riley O’Dell 23-50, 556 yds, 5 TDs; RB Michael Rivers 51-414, 6 TDs; RB Eddie Richardson 49-269 yds.

Notes: While Mountain View likes to hand the ball to an assortment of running backs, Michael Rivers has developed into the leader of the ground attack in recent weeks. … Rivers had 142 yards on 13 carries against Hudson’s Bay. … The Thunder defense has recorded three consecutive shutouts. Mountain View has not allowed a point since a 33-21 loss to Union on Sept. 30. … A victory against River will give Mountain View the No. 2 seed to the 3A preliminary round next week and a home game.

Bottom line: Columbia River’s surprise showing against Skyview made a lot of people take notice. But the Chieftains struggles at stopping the ground attack plays into Mountain View’s favor.

Columbian’s pick: Mountain View.

Fans’ pick: Mountain View (89 percent).