Gilbert Highland had a game under its belt heading into Friday night’s matchup with Mesa Mountain View and carried some confidence after easily disposing of Phoenix Trevor Browne last week, 42-6.

SLIDESHOW: Gilbert Highland vs. Mesa Mountain View

SLIDESHOW: Friday night prep football action

That confidence took a hit in front of the home folks, however, as the fourth-ranked Toros’ defense completely shut down Highland’s offense in a 27-0 victory over the Hawks in a 5A Division I non-region contest.

“I thought we played pretty well for a first game,” Mountain View coach Tom Joseph said. “Their front seven was tough. We had to fight for everything we got offensively, but our defense really did a nice job.”

The Toros returned better than three-fourths of their defense that posted a 9-3 record last season. And it showed in Friday night’s opener.

Highland (1-1) rushed for only 57 yards and passed for 67. The Hawks penetrated to Mountain View’s 20 just once in the game on their second possession, but were stopped on downs. A gamble on fourth-and-1 at the Mountain View 49 to begin the second period also ended in a Toro stop.

It gave Mountain View good field position and the Toros went on to score on their next two possessions.

“We didn’t block anybody,” Highland coach Pete Wahlheim said. “I thought that was one of the strengths of our team, but we didn’t perform well tonight. You have to block somebody. We’ll work on it. Get it fixed.”

After Mountain View’s stop of Highland at midfield to open the second period, the Toros took five plays to break on top.

A 22-yard run by junior running back Jacom Brimhall keyed the drive.

Teammate Alex Salas did the scoring honors with a 12-yard run with 9:30 left in the quarter.

The lead expanded to 13-0 a little over seven minutes later when the Toros capped a 14-play, 44-yard drive with a TD pass. Quarterback Blake Decker tossed a lateral on fourth-and-goal from the 4 to halfback Daniel Clemons, who dove just across the goal line and inside the pylon for the tally.

Brimhall, who finished with 137 yards on 18 carries, added another touchdown in the final period when he broke free for a 55-yard run with three minutes left in the game.

Highland had the ball just 2 1/2 minutes in the second period and the same amount of time in the third quarter.

“We had too many three-and-outs,” Wahlheim said. “Our defense did a good job. They were just on the field way too much.”