Larsen scores first three TDs in Mavs’ romp over Royals

Published 11:05 pm Tuesday, October 25, 2011

EDMONDS — Meadowdale took care of business against crosstown rival Lynnwood to set up one of the school’s biggest regular season finales in recent history.

Senior Kyler Larsen ran for two touchdowns and caught another for a score as the Mavericks crushed the Royals 42-7 in a Western Conference 3A football game Oct. 21 at Edmonds Stadium.

The victory means that the Oct. 27 game between Meadowdale (7-0 in the league, 8-0 overall) and Oak Harbor (7-0, 8-0) will determine the Wesco 3A championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium.

“Now the games get bigger and a lot more fun,” Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart said. “It’s going to be a fun week. Our group has shown great maturity in terms of their preparation. This is for all the marbles.”

The Viking offense is regarded as one of the best in the league.

“They’re fast,” Stewart said. “They present probably the biggest challenge of the year. They run a great Wing-T. They fly around and hit you. They’re really explosive with their Wing-T and their running game.”

Meadowdale made sure not to look past a struggling Lynnwood squad that only has one win this season.

“We played sharp enough,” Stewart said.

Each week the Mavericks come into the game with specific offensive and defensive game plans, and so far each week the players have gone out and executed those plans.

“Our players are getting their jobs done,” Stewart said. “I think that’s a real positive for us.”

Stewart liked that the offense was balanced with 162 yards on the ground and 175 through the air.

“We’re throwing the last couple of weeks a little bit better, so that part is good moving forward,” Stewart said. “We’re on track. We’ve got to keep working and keep getting better.”

Larsen scored on a 25-yard run midway through the first quarter and then caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brian Marty with 17 seconds to go in the quarter.

Larsen then added a 55-yard scoring run less than a minute into the second quarter.

“Kyler scoring those TDs was big,” Stewart said. “Guys making plays make it real easy to coach.”

Junior running back Giavani Shepard had a 19-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Marty connected with Ryan White on a 5-yard TD pass to close out the first half. In the third quarter, senior running back Kyle Newsom scored on a 4-yard run.

Quarterback Blake Lord threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Morgan Skelton in the fourth quarter for Lynnwood’s lone touchdown.

The Royals (1-6, 1-7)were a well-coached team, Stewart said. “They run their offense real well. They move the ball on everybody. They moved a little bit on us.”

Lynnwood coach Mike Don was disappointed by his team’s performance.

“We didn’t play very well,” Don said. “As soon as something happens we tend to try to overmake a play. We’ve got kids trying to do too much instead of just doing their jobs. It really sets us back. You can’t do that against a great team like Meadowdale.”

Just how good are the Mavericks?

“That’s the best football team we’ve played all year,” Don said. “That’s one of the best defenses I’ve seen in my coaching high school football.”

Lynnwood (1-6, 1-7) takes on Mountlake Terrace (2-5, 2-6) at 5 p.m., Oct. 27 at Edmonds Stadium. The Hawks lost 27-12 to Everett.