By Quint Turner

The Meadowdale Mavericks got out to a great start this season with a 28-18 win over the tough Kamiak Knights. Giavani Shepard had two 50-plus-yard touchdowns and Morgan Masanda one-upped him with a 91-yard touchdown run of his own to fuel the Maverick offense.

The defense, led by returning senior linebacker Michael Cummings, managed to keep a lid on the potent Knight offense. Heading up the Knights charge was senior quarterback Brett Ludeman, who hit wide receivers Austin Hall and Gabe Meshesha each for a touchdown.

After the teams went back and forth with little gain in the first two possessions, the Mavericks kicked off the scoring. They received a punt at the 44-yard line, and worked their way down the feel through a combination of Brian Marty passes and Shepard runs, until they got to the one yard line. Chace Diemond ran the ball in for the score, and Brett Schafer hit the extra point to put the Mavs up 7-0 five minutes into the game.

On their next possession, Kamiak got to their own 44-yard line before the drive stalled, and they punted. The punt was dropped by the Mavericks, though, and Kamiak’s Austin Sears jumped on the loose ball at the 37-yard line. The Knights got to the 7-yard line before the Maverick defense stopped them, and kicker Nicolas Menghini hit the easy 27-yard field goal to get the score to 7-3 with three minutes to go in the quarter.

On the kickoff, the Mavericks returned the ball to the 43-yard line. This set up a 57-yard Shepard run, where he broke free from the defensive line and juked out the safety, all the way to a Maverick touchdown. The extra point was good, and the Mavericks were up 14-3 with two and a half minutes to go in the quarter.

After the kickoff, Kamiak had first and 10 at the 21-yard line, and quarterback Ludeman decided to take a shot for a long pass, but Josiah Evans jumped in front of the pass and picked it off at the Maverick 46. However, the Mavericks were forced into a punting situation just before the quarter ended, with Meadowdale up 14-3.

Kamiak was unable to do anything with the ball after receiving the punt at their own 14, and left the Mavericks with great field position at their own 47 after the punt. However, the Kamiak defense knocked down a fourth-down pass at midfield to Tyler McGuire, and took the ball back. The Knights weren’t able to convert the great defense to offense, since they were three and outed. The punt went all away to the Meadowdale 9-yard line, and things were looking good for the Knights. Then Marty handed the ball off to Masanda, and no one on the Knight defense could knock him down or catch up to him, and he took the ball all the way to the end zone for the score – covering 91 yards. The extra point was good, and it was 21-3 with 4 minutes to go in the half.

Kamiak knew they had to respond quick to keep themselves in the game. On first and 10 on the 37 yard line, Ludeman hooked up with Meshesha for a 36 yard catch, getting the Knights to the 25. The Maverick defense looked like it did its job after forcing a fourth and 3 situation, but Ludeman found Daniel Conom for a 6-yard screen pass, moving the chains once more. After a defensive pass interference penalty moved the ball to the 6 yard line, Hall ran the ball in for the score. After the extra point, the Mavericks were still up 21-10 with a minute to go in the half. The score would remain that way for the rest of the half.

The defenses for both sides were able to hold strong for the entire third quarter, with neither team giving up a score. Kamiak started with the ball on their own 21 yard line, but went three and out when Russell Jordan knocked down a Ludeman pass on third down. The Mavericks got the punt at their own 43-yard line, and the drive started promisingly when Shepard went 14 yards for a first down. But a holding penalty on first down made it too tough for the team to get a first down on their first three tries. On fourth down, they went for it with a 10 yard pass, but the ball was knocked away by the Kamiak defense, and they took over on their own 38-yard line.

After a third down catch by Meshesha moved the chains, the Knights were unable to get another first down. Ludeman was stonewalled while going for a QB sneak on 4th and 1, and the Mavs took over on their own 36. The Mavericks went three and out, and then they forced a three and out on the Kamiak drive. The Mavericks had a 3rd and 7 situation on their own 23-yard line before the quarter ended, with the Mavericks still up 21-10.

On 3rd and 7, Marty attempted another pass, but it went incomplete, and the Mavericks ended up punting. The punt went to the Kamiak 26. The Knights strung together two first down screen passes in a row, one 12 yards and the other 17 yards, that got the ball to the Maverick 44-yard line. After an incomplete pass and a false start, Henderson Belk caught a short pass and took it 19 yards for a first down to the 26-yard line. Then he had another catch, and took the ball to the 9 for a 1st and goal situation. On 2nd and goal from the 7 , Ludeman found Meshesha in the end zone for a touchdown. The team went for two, and Hall was able to run it in for the conversion, making the score 21-18 Meadowdale with nine and a half minutes to go.

After the kickoff was returned to the 34-yard line, a personal foul brought the ball to the MHS 49 . On the very next play, Shepard scampered 51 yards to the end zone — his second 50-plus yard touchdown of the day. That score took all the wind from the Knight sails.

The Maverick defense held strong the rest of the way. With four and a half minutes to go and the Knights trying to get back in the game, Evans recovered a fumble on the Kamiak 28-yard line. From there, the Mavericks were able to run out the clock and collect a victory in the first game of the season by a score of 28-18.

Sports correspondent Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.