By Quint Turner

Seven different Mavericks scored touchdowns as Meadowdale routed the Shorewood Thunderbirds 49-0 on the T-Birds’ home field Friday night.

Though Giavani Shepard did not get a touch (but did play on special teams at times), Brian Marty came back and threw a touchdown after not playing last week. Jojo Alkhedairy had a great game defensively as well, recording a blocked punt, knockdown and recovered a fumble as well to lead the MHS defense to a shutout.

The Maverick offense started off with a bang. Michael Cummings caught the opening kickoff at the 39 and took it 21 yards to the Shorewood 41-yard line. Eric Vista got 4 yards on second and 4 for a first down at the Thunderbird 31. The next play, Marty threw a deep bomb to Ryan White, who caught it at the 10-yard line and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. Brett Schafer’s extra point was good, and it was 7-0 Mavericks after a minute and 10 seconds.

The kickoff went for a touchback, and on second and 8, Cummings dropped quarterback Dreden Wright for a 4-yard sack. On third and 12, Wright’s pass to Anxhelos Pere fell short, but Jordan Russell was called for a roughing the passer penalty, moving the chains 15 yards for a first down. The Mavericks stopped Arious Frazier at the line of scrimmage on third and 4, forcing the T-Birds to punt. The ball was downed at the MHS 18 yard line, and the Mavs started from there, with seven minutes to play.

On first and 10, Morgan Masanda got 20 yards on a straight handoff to get the Mavs to the 38-yard line. First and 10 again, Marty found Charlie White for a 15-yard pass, and the Mavs were in Shorewood territory. After a false start penalty, Cummings took the direct snap and ran 22 yards to the Thunderbird 31. Next play, it was Kameron Smith getting a 22-yard run down to the 9 yard line. With third and goal at the 6, Malik Braxton took the snap and scored the touchdown, making it 14-0 Mavericks with 3:50 to go in the quarter.

The kickoff went for a touchback, and the Mavericks forced a three and out. The Shorewood punt went to the MHS 46, and the Mavs took over. The first play from scrimmage, Marty went for a deep pass to Charlie White, and he caught it at the 10 and took it down to the T-Bird three yard line before being tackled out of bounds. On second and goal at the one, Cummings took the snap and ran it in for the touchdown with 1:22 to go. Shorewood returned the kickoff to their 25, and were in a second and 7 situation as the quarter ended. The Mavs were up 21-0 going into the second.

On third and 5, Wright fumbled the ball and Alkhedairy recovered it at the Shorewood 18. On secnd and 7 from the 15, Masanda took the pitch from Marty and was basically untouched as he went into the end zone to put the Mavs up 28-0. The Mavs forced another T-Bird three-and-out on their next possession, and the punt was blocked by Alkhedairy. The T-Birds were able to recover the ball, but it was at their own 9-yard line, and the Mavericks took over the ball there.

Christian Cameron ran for 7 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Then on second and goal, Cameron took the snap, broke a tackle, and scored the Mavericks’ fifth touchdown of the game. The extra point from Schafer was good, and the Mavs led 35-0 with 8:05 to play in the half.

Shorewood’s Josh Okumora fielded the kickoff at his own 10 yard line, and took it 25 yards on the return to try to start a comeback. However, on third and 11, Wright’s pass was knocked down by Alkhedairy, and the T-Birds had been three-and-outed once again. The punt got off without a hitch, and rolled to the MHS 42-yard line before being downed. First play, Braxton scampered 20 yards, taking the ball to the Shorewood 38. On second and 7, Tyler McGuire caught a 28-yard pass from Marty, and was taken out of bounds right away to prevent another touchdown. After a running play by Phillip Thomas got the ball to the 1, Thomas got the snap and took the ball in for another Maverick touchdown with 3:50 to go in the half. The extra point was good, and the Mavs were up 42-0. The T-Birds finally got a second first down on their next drive. On third and 7 at their own 32-yard line, Louis Rillo picked up 8 yards. However, the T-Birds were unable to get any points up on the board before the half ended with the Mavericks up 42-0.

The T-Birds got the ball at their own 30-yard line to start the second half, and they were determined to get some points on the board. On third and 10, Wright handed the ball to Josh Okumora and he picked up 23 yards on the play, taking the ball to the MHS 46. The Mavs forced a third and 4 situation, but Rillo got 6 yards and a first down. Then it was 1st and 10 at the MHS 35, and Rillo was taken down by Peyton Alexander for a one-yard loss. The Mavericks forced fourth and 7, and Wright was dropped for a three-yard sack by both Miguel Montoya and Moises Valadez.

The Mavericks took over at their own 35 with 5:00 to play in the quarter.  Caleb Tingstad came in to replace Marty at QB for the second half. On third and 5, Tingstad handed the ball off to James Johnson, and he picked up 11 yards and a first down.  The Mavs converted a second and 3 situation when Braxton got the snap and got 5 yards and the ball to the Shorewood 37  with 1:20 to go.

The next play, Rillo appeared to be injured when he tackled a receiver and was shaken up. He would return to the game. At third and 4 on the same series, Tingstad found Rory Spillum on a screen. Spillum broke a tackle from Wright, and got 8 yards on the play. Wright was injured on the play, but he too would return. On the last play of the quarter, Spillum got 8 yards on first and 10 at the SWHS 15-yard line.

The first play of the fourth, Tingstad found Steven Zhao on for an 8-yard gain, and on 2nd and goal at the 2-yard line, Trevor Coleman ran the ball in to the end zone for the final touchdown of the game. From there, the two teams went back and forth with drives that did not put either team within scoring distance, and the Mavericks won by a score of 49-0.

With the win, the currently 3rd in state Mavericks improve to 5-0 (2-0 in conference), and play the Mountlake Terrace Hawks in an away game at Edmonds Stadium on Friday, at 8 p.m. With the loss, the T-Birds fall to 1-4 (0-1 in conference), and their next game is against heated rival Shorecrest in an away game at Shoreline Stadium on Friday, at 7 p.m.