By Vincent Liu

In a span of 13 seconds, Los Altos High’s hopes of pulling off a football upset over rival Mountain View were dashed. That’s how long it took Mountain View’s Cody Himes to return a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.

The game-turning run erased an early lead by the Eagles and catapulted the Spartans to a 32-13 league victory last Friday night at Foothill College. The win evened Mountain View’s record to 2-2 in the SCVAL El Camino Division (5-2 overall) and kept alive its chance for a Central Coast Section playoff berth.

Los Altos (0-3, 1-6) took its only lead of the game late in the first quarter when running back Royce Hurd bolted off tackle up the middle for an 18-yard TD run. The score was set up when the ball took a reverse bounce off a poor Mountain View punt and landed at the Spartans’ 33-yard line.

The Eagles’ 7-6 lead didn’t last long, thanks to Himes’ party-pooping act on the ensuing kickoff.

With his left ankle tightly wrapped to protect a severe sprain, Himes took the ball at his 9-yard line and veered right where he found an open lane at his 40 and accelerated past three defenders into the end zone. This marked the second TD kickoff return for Himes, who ran one back 100 yards against Palo Alto earlier this season.

“This one feels better because of the rivalry,” said the senior receiver, who had never returned punts or kickoffs prior to this season.

After going ahead 18-7 on Sean Manson’s quarterback sneak, Mountain View put together back-to-back 16-play and 11-play scoring marches to ice the game. Both drives were kept alive by clutch catches by Himes for first downs on fourth-and-23 and third-and-17 situations, respectively,

Staying on the ground for most of the first half, Los Altos went to the air to start the third quarter and reached the end zone quickly on six plays covering 63 yards. The scoring drive featured passes from quarterback Donnie Ecker to Gerryn Hamilton and Peter Hahn for 22 and 25 yards, respectively.

A subsequent 5-yard TD run by Hahn narrowed the lead to 26-13, but the Eagles never mounted another serious threat due in part to poor field position; three of their possessions in the second half started at their 5-, 19- and 6-yard lines. Whatever momentum they had was negated by Mountain View’s big-play defense — highlighted by Jonathan Lam, who blocked a punt and intercepted a pass deep in his own territory. Lam also caught two passes for 40 yards on offense.

Manson, well protected by his offensive line, shredded the Eagles’ defense with 18 completions in 29 attempts for 216 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for two scores. Manson’s receivers dropped several of his passes, including a potential 65-yard TD to a wide open Jeff Eckenhoff , who started to run before the ball arrived. Nevertheless, Eckenhoff led the Spartans in receiving with five catches for 81 yards and a score.

Over seven games, Manson has completed 61 percent of his passes, averaging some 232 yards through the air, and has a 2:1 TD-to-interceptions ratio (14/7).

Mountain View’ 22nd-year coach Dan Navarro compared Manson to Los Gatos’ Trent Edwards, one of the nation’s top-rated quarterbacks last year and now a redshirt at Stanford University.

“Sean’s skills were always there, but last year our offensive scheme was set for running to take advantage of Trevor (Hooper) and J.D. (Nelson),” said Navarro, who sees Manson as a Division I college prospect.

Much of Manson’s success was credited by Navarro to a starting offensive line of Shonte Jiz de Ortega, Adrian Orozco, Charles Telesco, Jonathan Francisco and Daniel Croom.

“Going into the season, the offensive line was my biggest concern,” Navarro said, “but it has turned into the strength of our team.”

Despite the win, Navarro was visibly upset over his team’s ground game which was held to 89 yards by an opponent not known for its defense.

“We made too many mistakes the last three weeks and turnovers just killed us,” he said.

Navarro was no doubt referring to the league losses to Homestead and Cupertino by a combined eight points. During those two games, his team committed a total of nine turnovers, many of them deep in enemy territory.

“We beat ourselves and could have won both game,” he said,

Although his team suffered its fifth-straight loss, Eagles coach Ken Green was visibly relaxed and upbeat after the game.

“My players were very positive and happy about their performance tonight,” he said. “They didn’t give up, their heads were up, and they’re improving each week.”

After going through a winless season last year, Los Altos already met one of the modest goals set by its coach: To win at least one game, which it did against Sacred Heart Prep.

“Now our next goal is to win one league game,” Green said with a smile.

Mountain View’s aspirations are much higher. As defending league champs, the Spartans are trying to repeat the feat and return to the playoffs. They’re chances took a hit Friday, though, with the loss of starting fullback Guillermo Moreira to an ACL tear and defensive standout Tristan Shuman to a neck stinger. Moreira is out for the season and Shuman may not return as well.

Mountain View hosts Fremont (Sunnyvale) at 2:45 p.m., Friday. Los Altos faces Homestead at 7:30 p.m., Friday, at Cupertino High.