By Quint Turner

Jam the Stands brought two victories to the Meadowdale Mavericks on Friday night. Not only did the football team outscore their Edmonds-Woodway Warriors rivals 28 to 14, but the Maverick student body out-cheered the Warrior student body – winning the right of Meadowdale Student President Thomas Green to pie Edmonds-Woodway Student President Miles Laven. The Meadowdale defense was the key to the football victory, as they held the explosive Warrior offense, led by QB Davis Giles, to 14 points. They also forced an amazing five turnovers that led to 21 of the 28 Maverick points.

The first quarter started with the Mavericks being three-and-outed by the Warrior defense; not to be outdone, the Mavericks then forced a three-and-out of their own, and the punt was returned to the Maverick 45-yard-line. On 1st and 10 from the 45, Brian Marty handed the ball off to Giavani Shepard, and he got some great blocks by the offensive line and ran away from the Warrior defense for a 55 yard touchdown. However, the score was called back for a block in the back penalty that occurred at the Edmonds-Woodway 25-yard line, and the ball was brought back to the EWHS 35  for first and 10. The Warrior defense didn’t allow Shepard to break free again, and forced a fourth and four for the Mavericks. The Mavs opted to go for it, and were called for a false start. On fourh and 9, Marty attempted a pass to Ryan White, but Jack McCole knocked the pass down, and the Warriors took over at their own 34 with 6:30 to go.

On third and 4, Warrior QB Giles found a wide-open Marquise Brown coming across the middle, and he went for 19 yards and a first down at the MHS 41-yard-line. Junior Opoku-Mensah and Giles both ran for key first downs on third and short to continue the drive to the MHS 18 with 2:10 left in the quarter. After the Maverick defense didn’t allow anything on the run, Coach John Gradwohl called for a pass play, but Giles was sacked by Michael Cummins and Steven Buonto for a 5-yard loss. Giles’ pass on fourth and 15 to the 10-yard line was incomplete, and the Mavericks took over with 1:02 left in the quarter. The offense couldn’t get anything going, and were three-and-outed. The punt by Marty was returned to the E-W 44, and the last play of the quarter was an incomplete screen pass by Giles. The score was tied at 0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Maverick defense held strong on the next two plays, and forced a three-and-out. The punt by Edmonds-Woodway was received by White at the 15-yard line, and he took it 32 yards to the Meadowdale 47 on the return, giving the Mavericks great field position. On second and 9, Shepard broke a couple of tackles and fought his way for a tough first down to start the drive off. He got three yards on a carry on second and 2 to get the ball to the Edmonds-Woodway 37-yard line. Marty faked a handoff to Shepard the next play, and tossed the ball to the wide-open Charlie White, and he ran it into the end zone untouched. The extra point by Brett Schafer was good, and the Mavs were up 7-0 with 8 and a-half minutes to play.

The Warriors started on the 20-yard line the next possession, and the drive got off to a good start when Lee Anderson picked up 9 yards and a first down on second and 8. However, on firs and 10 from the E-W 31, Giles tried a screen pass, but Josiah Evans made his first interception of the night. He was tackled immediately at the EW 28-yard line, and it was Maverick ball. On third and 10 from the 28, the Mavericks ran a little misdirection when Marty faked a handoff to Shepard to the right, and actually gave it to Morgan Masanda going to the left, and Masanda scored essentially untouched. Schafer’s extra point was good, and it was 14-0 with 4:40 to go in the half.

Edmonds-Woodway knew they had to respond fast. After returning the kick to the 28-yard line, Giles found Jordan Lindamood for a 10-yard gain and a first down. The next three plays, though, the Warriors only got six yards, and decided they should go for it on fourth and 4. Bad idea. Evans got in front of another Giles pass and snatched it out of the air for his second pick on the night, and he took it back to the MHS 48-yard line. On second and 6 for the Mavs, Marty had a pass of his own picked off by Mac McLachen, who got all the way back to the MHS 36 before Shepard tackled him.

The Warriors had only two minutes to score, and they were able to do it. Anderson got a catch on third and 6 while coming across the middle and took it all the way to the Maverick 4-yard line for the first down. The next play, Opoku-Mensah ran the ball in untouched with 20 seconds to go in the half. The extra point was good, and the Mavs took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

The festivities at halftime focused mostly on which student section could cheer the loudest. The home side got the first crack, and the Warrior fans screamed as loud as they could, with President Laven cheering them on. After that, President Green got the Maverick section fired up and yelling as loud as possible. The security staff members for the Edmonds District Stadium got together, and decided that the Meadowdale section was louder, giving them another win in the storied rivalry. Green then got the traditional cream pie ready, and stuck it in the face of president Laven. Afterwards, the two shook hands as a sign of sportsmanship.

There was still another half to play in the game, though. Edmonds-Woodway started with the ball on their own 11 -yard line. On 3rd and 7, Giles found Anderson around the 20 yard line, and he got to the 28 before three different Mavericks came together to strip the ball away from Anderson. The Mavericks recovered the ball at the EW 33-yard line with good field position. On 3rd and 10 for the Mavericks at the 28, Marty found R. White for a 15-yard completion and a first down. Shepard then earned 11 tough yards through the ground on 1st and 10 at the 18 yard line to set up 1st and goal at the 7 yard line. Masanda was given the handoff once again, and ran it in to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game, and after Schafer’s extra point was good, the Mavs had a 21-7 lead with 9:20 to go in the quarter.

There was still another half to play in the game though. Edmonds-Woodway started with the ball on their own 11 yard line. On 3rd and 7, Giles found Anderson around the 20 yard line, and he got to the 28 yard line before three different Mavericks came together to strip the ball away from Anderson. The Mavericks recovered the ball at the EW 33 yard line with good field position. On 3rd and 10 for the Mavericks at the 28 yard line, Marty found R. White for a 15 yard completion and a first down. Shepard then earned 11 tough yards through the ground on 1st and 10 at the 18 yard line to set up 1st and goal at the 7 yard line. Masanda was given the handoff once again, and ran it in to the endzone for his second touchdown of the game, and after Schafer’s extra point was good, the Mavs had a 21-7 lead with 9:20 to go in the quarter.

The kick from Schafer went into the end zone for a touchback, and the Warriors started at the 20-yard line on their drive. Time was running out, and they needed a long drive for a touchdown to stay in the game. On second and 7, Anderson got 8 yards on a completion to start the drive off. Then, on third and 9, Giles called a play-action pass, and faked handing the ball off to Opoku-Mensah before throwing the ball deep to Jacob Roling for 41 yards and to the Maverick 27. With 5:30 to go and third and 4, Giles bootlegged to the right while trying to find a receiver, but Cummings caught up to him and sacked him for a 3-yard loss. The Warriors decided to go for it on fourth and 7, and Giles went for the end zone with a “Hail Mary” pass. The ball was picked off, once again, by Evans at the 2-yard line, and he took it back to the 20. The Maverick offense wasn’t able to get anything going on the drive, and were three-and-outed. With 2:30 in the quarter, the Mavs punted the ball, but it only went 11 yards, and the Warriors started at the MHS 37-yard line.

On second and 8 for the Warriors, Opoku-Mensah got four yards while fending off Maverick defenders for the first down. On the last play of the quarter, Opoku-Mensah got only four yards on 3rd and 8, which set up fourth and 4 for the start of the next quarter.

The Warriors got the big play they needed to keep up with the Mavericks, as Giles tossed a ball in the vicinity of Roling, and he made a diving catch at the MHS 4-yard line for the first down. On third and goal from the 2nd-yard line, Opoku-Mensah took the handoff and walked into the endzone for the touchdown. The Warriors were within seven points again, and it was 21-14 with 10:20 still to go in the game.

The Mavericks started the drive at their own 40 after a squib kick by the Warriors to avoid Shepard. Shepard got two important yards on third and 2 to start the drive, but he would be injured on the play. He was able to come back almost immediately though. On third and 6, Marty over threw R. White, and it was fourth down. Marty’s punt was a beauty, as it spiraled to the 4-yard line and was dropped by the Warrior punt returner and recovered by Buonto at the 2.

After losing a yard the previous play, it looked like Shepard finally scored a touchdown when he ran it in from three yards out, but it was called back to the nine yard line for holding. A neutral zone infraction by the Warriors on third and 9 shortened the distance to 4 yards. Shepard took the snap, and handed it off to Masanda, and he ran it in for his third touchdown of the game with only 5:30 minutes to go. The extra point was good, and the Mavs were up 28-14.

The Maverick defense forced a three-and-out on the Warriors possession, with the key play coming on secind and 10, where Giles was ruled for intentional grounding when he threw the ball away while bootlegging to the left side. That killed the drive immediately, as it was now third and 25, and Opoku-Mensah only got 12 of those yards. The punt went to the Maverick 36, and they went to work on draining the rest of the clock. Phillip Thomas got 8 yards on second and 3 for a first down, and though the team didn’t get any farther than that, they took the clock to 1:30 left in the game before having to punt. Edmonds-Woodway tried two running plays, but were unable to get anywhere, and the clock expired as the Mavericks won 28-14.

With the win, the Mavericks go to 3-0 on the season. Their next game is next Friday against Shorecrest High School at home at 5 p.m. With the loss, the Warriors fall to 2-1 on the year. Their next game is at Jackson High School at 8 p.m. on Friday.

Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.