<< Previous   of   Next >> For The Enterprise/ZACHARY KAUFMAN  (click to enlarge) Meadowdale’s Riley Neff-Warner and Naji Moore-Taylor (right) comfort each other after losing their Class 3A state quarterfinal game to Union 49-7 on Nov. 21.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Mavericks fall

Enterprise staff

VANCOUVER

Union defeated Meadowdale 49-7 in a Class 3A state football quarterfinal playoff game on Nov. 21.

Union scored touchdowns on its first six possessions as it improved its record to 11-1. Union’s Nathaniel Penaranda carried the ball 12 times for 200 yards and scored four touchdowns — all in the first half.

“Tonight they were a much more physical team that we couldn’t handle,” Meadowdale head coach Mark Stewart said, “We just couldn’t get anything going.”

When it seemed Meadowdale halted Union in its first possession, Union risked a fourth-and-2 in its own territory and Penaranda slid past the Meadowdale defense and into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown.

The Titans kept pace, scoring six more running touchdowns and stymied all of Meadowdale’s attacks.

After the Titans went up 49-0 in the third quarter, the “running clock” rule— which keeps the clock running without any stoppage if a team goes up by 45 or more points — went into effect, thus diminishing the chance for a Meadowdale comeback.

Quarterback Danny McDonald scored the Mavericks lone touchdown with just under eight minutes left in the game on a 5-yard run. McDonald finished 8-for-15 passing for 64 yards, and Sam Werner led the Mavericks with five catches for 39 yards.

But Stewart didn’t want this one game to alter what Meadowdale had accomplished beforehand, going a perfect 11-0.

“We accomplished a lot to go 11-0,” Stewart said about the school record-breaking undefeated season, “and it showed how deep of a group of seniors we have and with the young guys chipping in to win every week is an accomplishment.”

For standout running back Naji Moore-Taylor (20 carries, 80 yards) and the 14 other seniors, it was not the way to go out, but Stewart reiterated just how special of a group the seniors were and how much they carried the team.

“They were disappointed,” Stewart said, “but they knew they accomplished something and that they lost to a better team... We knew they were going to be physical, they had some guys that looked really impressive on tape and obviously they were the best team we have played all year.”

Meadowdale ends its season with a record of 11-1.