Tears welled in the eyes of Nick Sorrell, the man who carried the burden of impossible expectations on his shoulders. Those will never relent, not as he succeeds a coaching icon and holds the title of Highland’s football coach, but in the aftermath of his team’s 30-24 defeat to Mountain View in the 5A quarterfinals Friday evening, he looked comfortable releasing the emotion behind them.

At times, he had trouble discussing the way his team went out: The way the Rams tied the game with three minutes left with a 41-yard Drew Hymas rush, the way they relinquished the lead for good moments later with a 35-yard Valentine Gomez-Ricks carry, the way the hosts ran out of magic with 28 seconds left and the ball in their hands. Sorrell managed a smile to discuss the highlights, like when Mason Fullmer surged in for a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter and when Gunner Wilhelm gave his team the lead in the second stanza, but that’s the trouble when you coach Highland.

The Rams’ program, historically one of the state’s best, exists on something close to a binary scale: State championship or disappointment. Much prevented this team from capturing a title, namely injuries and inexperience, but a program with 32-straight playoff appearances and 11 championships does not please fans with quarterfinal exits — circumstance and nuance be damned.

So for Sorrell and the Rams, this result is frustrating on two levels: One, they missed chances to win this game. Two, that stopped them from advancing to the state title games their program is judged on.

“It’s just a tough pill to swallow,” Sorrell said, “because this wasn’t our ultimate goal.”

If the Rams can take solace in anything, it’s this: They didn’t lose for lack of trying. Mountain View took the lead with four minutes to go, thanks to a 20-yard pass to Collin Rogers from Dawson Wahl, a 6-foot-5 quarterback who diced up Highland’s man coverage with out-routes and slants. When he wasn’t doing that, he was handing off to running back Valentine Gomez-Ricks, a freshman who carried 29 times for 182 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 28 seconds left.

The Rams answered the first score. Hymas, who completed 13 of 27 passes for 126 yards and one interception, broke free for a 41-yard touchdown rush, tying the game at 24-all with a shade over three minutes to play. Highland’s defense then forced a stop, giving the offense a chance to take the lead, but that’s when things went awry for the hosts. Hymas slung a pass over the middle, only to watch one Mountain View defender tip it into the air and another intercept it, setting up the Mavericks at the Rams’ 39.

Mountain View did not wait long to capitalize. With 40 seconds left, Wahl handed off to Gomez-Ricks, who plunged into bodies at the line of scrimmage, took hits, kept his balance and emerged out of the pile, prancing into the end zone.

The Rams had faced dire straits before, but never a situation as daunting as this: Down six, ball at their own 20, 28 seconds to play. Their drive unfolded like so: Hymas rushed for 18 yards. Then he rushed for five. Then he threw a pass over to Rhidge Barela, who threw it back, but it sailed over Hymas’ head, an incompletion that left three seconds on the clock. Their final play fell short, and so did the Rams.

“We didn’t perform our best,” Hymas said. “I feel bad for the seniors. I love those guys with my whole heart. It was really fun to play with them.”

For Highland, the result might not have been so disappointing if the club hadn’t played so well in the earlier stages of the game.

Part of the hosts’ problem was this: They could not consistently defend the Mavericks’ RPO offense. Gomez-Ricks was a force, and even when the Rams kept him in check, they couldn’t do the same to Mountain View’s passing assault, which capitalized on Highland’s Cover 1 and Cover 0 looks. “That goes back to them being in that two-tight-ends set,” Sorrell said. “It’s really hard to say, go Cover 3, and those corners are playing off — all they just run is hitches and slants.”

In the first frame, Wahl completed a pass in the flat to Makaii Pattwell, who evaded a Highland tackler and jogged into the end zone. After kicker Martin Connington connected on a 44-yard field goal, the Mavericks forced the Rams to punt, and moments later, Wahl flung a six-yard touchdown pass to Collin Rogers, who hauled in seven passes for 80 yards, including a touchdown right before halftime, which gave the visitors a 17-10 lead at the intermission.

Good thing the Rams have their own playmakers. In the first half, their one touchdown came courtesy of Wilhelm, a every-down linebacker who darted between tackles for a six-yard touchdown rush, taking a brief lead. The problem for Highland is that added up to some of its best rushing all game.

“They had a really good defensive plan against (Hymas) to kinda shut him down running wise, and turn us into a passing team,” Sorrell said. “And that’s not us.”

Never has been. Many of the Rams’ best plays this season, and much of their identity, revolved around the run. A broken collarbone forced starting running back Jackson Riddle, a wise and fast back, to make his season debut in Week 4 — only that’s when he reinjured it, keeping him out the remainder of the season. Still, the Rams stuck with their ground attack, getting contributions from players like Fullmer and Kade Jones, who logged 12 carries for 43 yards on Friday night.

To scale the mountaintop and visit the land where their seasons are judged, the Rams may need to do two things: Stay healthy and evolve. Injuries ransacked their season, including in this game when Colt Durham broke his collarbone on a 41-yard reception — “That changes (things),” Sorrell said, “because he had become a pretty dynamic playmaker” — which made things exceedingly difficult on a team that already returned so little experience.

So that’s what encourages Sorrell. “Our entire offense is back next year,” he said. That will include Hymas, Rhidge Barela, Kai Callen, Riddle, plus four offensive linemen. You can’t always bet on the development of teenagers, but the experience of a season like this will not hurt, not with the way the Rams followed a 2-3 start with four straight wins and a district championship, earning a first-round playoff bye in Sorrell’s first season.

As he follows Gino Mariani, the legendary Highland coach who won four state championships across a little more than two decades before resigning this summer, Sorrell realizes he and his group did not attain all they came for. He may not earn many votes of sympathy, which comes with the territory of coaching a program with such prestige, but he sees hope, sees confidence, sees reasons to believe in — to expect — seasons to cry happier tears about.

“I was pretty happy with how things went,” Sorrell said. “I thought that we laid a foundation for how I want my program to be, along with implementing the traditions of Highland High School and Highland football, and intertwining that. So with that, just kinda how these kids grew and evolved, not only just from football players, but to the men that they’re gonna become and help out our communities, society in general. I mean, that’s what it’s all about. I know this group of seniors is gonna do some pretty special things.”

MOUNTAIN VIEW 30, HIGHLAND 24

Scoring summary

First quarter

M — Patwell 13 pass from Wahl (PAT good), 6:05

H — Younis 27 field goal, 1:21

Second quarter

H — Wilhelm 6 rush (PAT good), 10:07

M — Connington 44 field goal, 7:42

M — Rogers 6 pass from Wahl (PAT good), 1:36

Fourth quarter

H — Fullmer 2 rush (PAT good), 8:53

M — Patwell 20 pass from Wahl (PAT good), 4:34

H — Hymas 41 rush (PAT good), 3:01

M — Gomez-Ricks 35 rush (PAT no good), 0:28

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Mountain View: Richmond 2-4, Gomez-Ricks 29-182, Wahl 6-32. Highland: Fullmer 3-11, Hymas 18-95, Barela 1-0, Callen 2-37, Jones 12-43, Wilhelm 1-6.

PASSING — Mountain View: Wahl 14-26-3 142. Highland: Hymas 13-27-0 126, Barela 2-3-0 26.

RECEIVING — Mountain VIew: Pattwell 6-54, Rogers 7-80, Cobb 1-8. Highland: Callen 1 (-3), Barela 4-36, Durham 1-41, Fullmer 1-11, Hymas 1-15, Jones 5-35, Richards 2-17.