Abigail Hardy is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain View High School for AZPreps365.com

No team is built by one person. 

The Mountain View Toros football team finished in 2024 as state runners-up with a junior quarterback and wide receiver duo. 

“There are a lot of great quarterbacks that went to Mountain View before me, and just carrying on that legacy means a lot,” starting quarterback Brady Goodman said. 

Back in 2013, John Clark, as a senior, totaled 3,040 passing yards for the Toros. As a junior, Goodman surpassed him with 3,075 passing yards.  

Goodman also set the team record for passing touchdowns with 43. He broke John Beck’s 1999 single-season record of 42.

Keeping up the family name, both parents of Goodman attended Mountain View, and his father once played on the football team wearing No. 5, just as his son, Brady, is currently. 

“My dad would tell me stories about him going to his state championships, so just being able to carry on the family legacy, that, too, was huge for me,” Goodman said. 

Goodman isn’t the only junior Toro breaking records this season. Wide receiver Talan Arnett broke an Arizona 6A state record, reaching 22 receiving touchdowns in a single season.

“I kind of went into my junior season expecting to do good, obviously, that was a little bit more than I thought I was going to do,” Arnett said. “I think a lot was the coaches just putting me in those positions. Also, me and Brady just kind of have the connection, and everything and credit goes to him, too. He made a lot of plays for me.” 

The two have been playing since they were around 6 years old, Arnett said. 

“We’re just super good friends, like growing up together and being in the same neighborhood kind of just close by,” Arnett said. “That’s kind of what the whole Mountain View community is, just all these guys in the same neighborhood, just playing football.”

The Toros haven’t won a state championship since 2006. Last season, the Toros worked their way up to a 12-2 overall record and won their 6A East Valley Region. 

“It meant everything,” senior linebacker Beckham Barney said. “I love this group of guys, and we’ve been kind of plotting to go to state and try to go win it. We really put our all into it, so going into it, we wanted to do that. It was just great to spend one last season with all of my brothers and just give it all we had.”  

Barney has accepted a Division I offer to play football at the University of California.

Barney and Goodman both play varsity baseball in the spring, while spring season football has already started. 

“It’s hard, yeah, it’s hard,” Barney said. “You got to do baseball. You got to focus on that, especially when it’s in season, and you got to compete. Just being an athlete overall, you kind of just compete with anything you can.”

Although Barney is a senior, he doesn’t practice with the spring team, but he does lift with them in the weight room, he said. 

Heading into summer practices and starting the senior season, Goodman said he’ll be spending time in the weight room, creating bonds with new players and continuing to work hard.