Live updates recap: Peoria Liberty dominates Mesa Mountain View in Arizona high school football

Liberty shows its national ranking is warranted by knocking Mountain View from the unbeaten ranks

Peoria Liberty takes the field in the 2023 Arizona high school football state championship game against Centennial. / Steven Davis

Mesa Mountain View heads to Peoria Liberty on Friday night to try to knock off the top-ranked team in Arizona high school football.

Liberty (2-0) enters the game ranked No. 16 in the national SBLive/SI Top 25, while Mountain View (2-0) is coming off a 57-27 thrashing of Saguaro.

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Follow along below for live updates once the game starts, with the kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. MST/PT.

You can also watch Mesa Mountain View at Peoria Liberty live on the NFHS Network.

FINAL: Liberty 49, Mountain View 20

4TH QUARTER UPDATES

TOUCHDOWN MOUNTAIN VIEW! Brady Goodman finds Mikey Sumko, who makes a diving one-handed grab in tight coverage in the end zone to make it 49-20 Liberty with 3:14 left.

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! Jayden Sanchez runs it in from 3 yards out on a drive commandeered by backup quarterback Brayden Stevens. It's 49-13 Liberty with seven minutes left.

TOUCHDOWN MOUNTAIN VIEW! Brady Goodman connects with Talan Arnett again from 3 yards out on a third-down play-action pass to narrow the deficit to 42-13 with 10:19 left.

3RD QUARTER UPDATES

END OF 3RD QUARTER: Liberty 42, Mountain View 6

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! Never mind a momentum swing. Liberty answers right back with a 58-yard TD connection from Hayden Fletcher to Brody Pilgaard to make it 42-6 Liberty with less than two minutes left.

TOUCHDOWN MOUNTAIN VIEW! 25-yard TD from Brady Goodman to Talan Arnett and it's 35-6 Liberty after the two-point try fails.

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! Braxton Hunyh waltzes in for a 52-yard touchdown catch. Way less stylish than the one that got called back, but it's still six points. It's 35-0 Liberty.

Ridiculous touchdown catch-and-run by Braxton Hunyh gets called back by a penalty. Big break for Mountain View, big bummer that the Hunyh highlight gets wiped out.

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! Braxton Hunyh scores his second TD of the night on a wheel route where he did most of the work himself from 40 yards out. It's 28-0 Liberty.

Hudson Dunn's big hit for a sack on Brady Goodman forces a punt after Mountain View had advanced into Liberty territory. Liberty takes over leading 21-0 from its own 27.

Mountain View will start at its own 21, trailing 21-0.

2ND QUARTER UPDATES

HALFTIME: Liberty 21, Mountain View 0

FUMBLE! Shorty after Brady Goodman hit Mikey Sumko for a nice sideline catch to get Mountain View in Liberty territory, Goodman coughs it up on the Liberty 48.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! That's been the theme of the quarter. Drace Wadlington makes a 40-yard catch to start the drive, but a three-and-out follows. Mountain View ball on its own 41, trailing 21-0.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Mountain View QB Brady Goodman hits Talan Arnett for a 50-yard gain to the Liberty 10, but Goodman gets sacked on third down and throws incomplete on fourth. Still 21-0 Liberty in the waning minutes of the half.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Mountain View gets a glimmer of hope as a bad snap on fourth and short ends Liberty's drive. Liberty leads 21-0, Mountain View ball on its own 30 with about six minutes left.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Mountain View moves the ball a bit but the drive stalls. Liberty ball again looking to put this one further out of hand.

1ST QUARTER UPDATES

END OF 1ST QUARTER: Liberty 21, Mountain View 0

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! It's Brody Pilgaard getting the TD grab from 15 yards out. That's three touchdown passes for Hayden Fletcher in the first quarter and it's 21-0 Liberty with 30 seconds left.

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! Hayden Fletcher finds Drace Wadlington this time from 10 yards out and it's 14-0 Liberty, 6:21 left.

TOUCHDOWN LIBERTY! That was fast. Hayden Fletcher hits Braxton Hunyh for a 60-yard touchdown and it's 7-0 Liberty, 10:07 left.

PREGAME

Liberty will start with the ball.

Senior Hayden Fletcher is the new Liberty quarterback this year, replacing now-Arizona State Sun Devil Navi Bruzon.

He had two passing touchdowns and two more on the ground last week in a 46-0 win over O’Connor.

Liberty is very strong in the trenches, featuring three-star seniors Nick Spence (Minnesota OT commit) and Caden Branston (Colorado State DT commit).

Mesa Mountain View is led by two-way terror Beckham Barney.

The 6-foot-3 Cal commit has 209 yards rushing and five touchdowns on offense and 23 tackles on defense, where he'll play in college as a linebacker.

He finished his junior season with 145 tackles (13 for loss) and four sacks.

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports

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