By Quint Turner

The Meadowdale Mavericks came into Friday night’s football game with a perfect 6-0 record — but without star running back Giavani Shepard, starting quarterback Brian Marty and offensive lineman Dustin Spicknall. They would leave without running back Morgan Masanda and backup QB Jeremiah Evans, and their record fell to 6 and 1. After going the entire year scoring an average of 33.33 points per game, the Mavericks were shutout 16-0 by Eastlake for their first regular season loss since 2009.

All 16 points for the Wolves were scored in the second quarter, thanks to two touchdown passes by Blue Thomas to Cameron Nelson and a 30-yard field goal by Zachary Steinberg.

With the wind going against Steinberg on the kickoff, the Mavs started with the ball at their own 34. Though this was a great start in terms of field position, it did little to help the MHS offense. On the first play from scrimmage, Amanuel Tekle took the snap and ran all the way to the Eastlake 25-yard line before the ball was stripped out of his hands and recovered by the Wolves on their own 21-yard line. On second and 10, the Wolves’ Drew Lewis got the handoff, broke a few tackles, and ran 25 yards for a Wolves first down. But their drive stopped and the Mavs forced the Wolves to punt after an incomplete pass on third and 10.

A punt put the Mavs back at their own 38-yard line with 10:29 to play in the quarter. They were able to get a first down on third and 10 when Evans found an open Masanda for an 11-yard pass and a first down on their own 49. The Mavs were forced into a third-and-11 situation on the next series, and they were unable to convert when Evans overthrew Ryan White near the sidelines.

With regular punter Marty out, kicker Schafer punted to the EHS 20 -yard line. However Jeffery Feinglas returned the kick 37 yards to the MHS 43-yard line to set up their next drive with 7:43 to play.

The Wolves got a key conversion on third and inches when Thomas faked the handoff and ran it 3 yards himself to get to the MHS 30. The next play, Thomas threw a 26-yard pass to Gage Casal, and the Wolves had first and goal at the MHS 4. On second and 4, Thomas tried to run it in on a bootleg, but he was hit and fumbled the ball. The Mavs recovered it on their own 2 yard line with six minutes to play, and the game was still 0-0.

The Mavs managed to get the ball out from their own end zone on second and 8, when Masanda got a 10-yard run off a pitch to bring it to the MHS 14. On third and 3, Evans hit White on a slant route for a seven-yard gain, and another first down at the MHS 28. The drive stopped there though, and the Mavs set up to punt on fourth and 10. The snap to Schafer was a bit low, and as he went down to catch it, his knee hit the ground, and he was ruled down by the officials. That meant the Wolves had the ball on the MHS 17-yard line with two minutes left in the quarter. On thirrd and 4, Lewis got the handoff, and ran the ball into the end zone, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty. He was unable to get the first down on tthird and 15 after getting the handoff, but did set up a 30 yard field goal attempt by Steinberg. However, the quarter expired before they got the play off.

The second quarter began when Steinberg’s 30-yard field goal went through the uprights, giving the Wolves an immediate 3-0 lead. The Mavs started on their own 20, looking to rebound, but their offensive woes continued. Evans tried to pitch to Tekle on first and 10, but the ball was dropped, and Tekle had to fall on it at the MHS 11-yard line. Tekle got 12 yards back to set up third and 8, and Masanda was given a handoff to try and get the first down. He was stopped for only a three-yard gain, but more importantly, he was shaken up on the play and did not return. The punt on fourth and 5 only went to the MHS 43 before being downed, giving the Wolves great field position with 10:14 to play in the half.

They took advantage. Lewis picked up 20 yards on second and 13, getting the ball to the MHS 25-yard line. After a holding penalty made it first and 20, Thomas threw a perfect spiral to Nelson at the goal line, and he took it into the endzone for a 35-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good, and it was 10-0 EHS with 8:40 to play.

The Mavs couldn’t get anything going on their next drive, and were three-and-outed. The Wolves got the ball back on the MHS 37- yard line, and struck again. On 3rd and 4, Thomas rolled out to find a receiver, but all of them were covered, and Jeremy Gomez was rushing him. Instead of throwing the ball away, Thomas stiff-armed Gomez, cut back the other way and ran 20 yards for the first down. On 2nd and 11 at the MHS 18 yard line, Thomas found Nelson again on a post route in the endzone for Nelson’s second TD of the game. The extra point was no good, however, and the Wolves only had a 16-0 lead with 5:16 to play in the half.

The Mavs started their next drive at their own 20-yard line, and on third and 10, Evans was sacked by Eric Harper for a 10 yard loss. That forced another punt, and this one only went to the MHS 28 yard line before being downed, and the Wolves had 1st and 10 with 3:02 to go.

The Wolves were unable to get any first downs either, and sent out Steinberg to try a 40-yard field goal. The kick went wide left, and the Mavericks got the ball back on their own 20 with 0:49 to go. With 0:15 to play, Chance Diemond took the snap and got 2 yards, but he tried to pitch it back to another Maverick, and a Wolf recovered it instead. The Wolves had 7 seconds to try and get more points before the half ended, and they sent out Steinberg again, this time for a 50-yard field goal. The kick was blocked, and Nicholas Neely recovered the ball near midfield. He ran as fast as he could, but he was unable to shake Jacob Cusack, and was tackled at the EHS 25 yard line. Time had already expired, so the Mavs couldn’t use the field position to get any points, and they would go into the half down 16-0.

The Wolves started the third quarter with the ball at their own 45 -ard line, but were unable to capitalize on the good field position again. This time, Thomas fumbled the ball while trying to hand it off, and the Mavericks fell on it at the EHS 43. Diemond took the snap on first and 10, and got 20 yards to bring the ball to the EHS 22 yard line. A holding penalty on second and 13 took the wind out of the drive’s sails however, and the Mavs had to punt once again.

The ball was kicked to the EHS 14 yard line, and nine minutes were left in the quarter. On 2nd and 7, Thomas threw a screen pass to Lewis, and he managed to get seven yeards to start the drive. Then on third and 10 during the next series, Thomas threw another great pass to Nelson in-between the Maverick secondary for 15 yards and another first down. That took the ball into MHS territory as well, but the Wolves march stopped there. On third and 11, Thomas was hit as he tried to lob one out to Lewis, and the pass fell incomplete, forcing the Wolves to punt. The punt was returned to the MHS 20-yard line, and that’s where the Mavericks would start with 4:19 to play.

Once again, the Wolves defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at the MHS 43. On second and 7, Thomas broke a few tackles, stiff-armed a defender, and received an illegal block as he took the ball 40 yards into the endzone. That illegal block was called, though, and the touchdown was called back. That didn’t stop Thomas. On third and 10, he picked up 14 yards on a sneak to get to the MHS 29-yard line with 1:02 to play. Thomas then was sacked for a five yard loss on the next play by Michael Cummings, and the quarter expired after a no-gain run the next play by Lewis.

The Mavs still had a chance to get back in the game if they could get a stop on third and 15. They couldn’t. Thomas found Nelson one more time for a 31-yard gain, taking the ball to the MHS 3-yard line on the first play in the fourth. After getting to the 1-yard line and being stopped, Thomas tried twice to sneak the ball into the endzone, but was met by Mavericks both times. On 4th and 1, the Wolves went for it to try and stick a dagger in Meadowdale’s throat. Lewis took the handoff to the right side, and was taken down in the backfield by a couple of defensive lineman on the 3-yard line to turn the ball back over with 9:30 to play.

Diemond started the drive right with a 14-yard gain on second and 10 to get the ball out of the MHS endzone. On second and 13, Evans over-threw a pass to White, and was also hit just after throwing. He went down with an injury, and was unable to continue to play as quarterback. This meant Caleb Tingstad would come in to play the last nine minutes. After an offsides penalty made it third and 8, Tingstad threw his first pass — a bullet to White for eight yards and a first down. Unfortunately, the Mavs went no further with the drive, since on third and 9, Tingstad’s pass was batted down by Nelson, forcing a punt.

The punt was returned by Feinglas for a 25-yard gain, as he took the ball to the MHS 45 to start the Wolves’ drive with 6:55 to play. The Mavericks pushed them back and forced another three-and-out to try and keep themselves in the game. The kick went to the MHS 38, and on first and 10, Tingstad’s pass was intercepted by Nelson at the MHS 45-yard line with 4:45 to play. They would again go three-and-out and punt, but two more minutes expired in that time.

The Mavs only had 2:45 to work with on their next drive, which started on their own 38. On fourth and 17, Tingstad found White for a 10-yard gain, but before White hit the ground, he lateraled the ball to Tekle, and Tekle took the ball all the way to the EHS 40. However, the drive ended on fourth and 10 when Tingstad was sacked by Harper for a 10-yard loss when Tingstad was trying to find an open receiver. The Wolves kneed out the last minute and a half remaining to hang on and beat the previously undefeated Mavericks 16-0.

With the loss, the Mavericks go to 6-1 (3-0 in conference and tied for first with Glacier Peak). Their next game is next Friday at home against Glacier Peak at 8 p.m. for what is the final regular season game, and homecoming. With the win, the Wolves improve to 3-4, and their next game is Senior Night against Redmond at home at 7  p.m. next Friday.

Sports correspondent Quint Turner attends Meadowdale High School.
c