Meadowdale scores late, stuns Kelso 24-20 in state playoff game
Published 11:00 pm Friday, November 11, 2016
EDMONDS — It was the kind of play kids dream of making when they’re in their backyards playing against their friends.
Time winding down in the fourth quarter, your team down by a few points, fourth down and many yards to go. Convert and you have a chance at victory. Fail to convert and you’re on your way to certain defeat.
Drew Tingstad and Haelin Roberts lived the fantasy Friday, and as a result the Meadowdale football team is heading to the 3A state quarterfinals.
Tingstad hooked up with Roberts on a 48-yard touchdown pass with 57 seconds remaining in the game, and the Mavericks held on for a thrilling 24-20 win over Kelso in a first-round 3A state tournament game at Edmonds Stadium.
Meadowdale will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Mountain View and Peninsula in the quarterfinal round next weekend.
“These kids, no matter what the situation, they’ll keep battling, and they believe in each other,” Mavericks coach Matt Leonard said.
The final touchdown of Friday’s game pretty much defined the word ‘clutch.’ Down 20-18, the Mavericks’ drive stalled around midfield, and a fourth-down-and-14 play became a fourth-down-and-19 play after a penalty. At that point, Meadowdale’s chances for victory looked bleak.
But the Mavericks failed to surrender.
“I said to 10 (Tingstad) and five (Roberts), ‘You’ve been two of our best all year, you’ve been playing together for years, go out and make a play,’” Leonard said.
They delivered. Tingstad found an open Roberts at about the Hilanders’ 20-yard line on a post pattern. The speedy Roberts outraced Kelso’s secondary and dove into the end zone.
“Heck, it was scary on fourth-and-14, so it was definitely scary on fourth-and-19,” Roberts said. “There’s not a lot of plays in the playbook for that situation. But I knew the play that was called could work because we scored with it last week. (When I got in the end zone), there were almost tears in my eyes, knowing that I had made the play that put us in position to win the game.”
For Tingstad, there was only one option on the play.
“I knew who I was going to throw the ball to before the ball was snapped,” said Tingstad, who threw for 163 yards. “(Haelin’s) a hell of a player, and I knew he’d make a play for sure, and he did.”
The game wasn’t quite over at that point, though. Kelso engineered a quick drive down the field and got to the Mavericks’ 1-yard line after a 30-yard pass play to Riley Noah with only one second left on the clock. The Hilanders had one final shot at victory, but the snap to quarterback A.J. Hoggatt bounced off the signal-caller’s legs, and the Mavericks dove on the ball to ensure their victory.
“We’re so excited,” said Roberts, who caught seven passes for 100 yards. “We came together as a team and we didn’t quit. We play every play like it’s our last play, because if we do that, it won’t be our last play.”
Meadowdale scored a safety when Kelso’s snap on a punt attempt sailed high and out the back of the Hilanders’ end zone, cutting Kelso’s lead to 17-12 early in the fourth quarter.
On its ensuing possession, Meadowdale got the spark in its running game that it had been looking for as its star runner, Kela Marshall (109 rushing yards), broke off a 50-yard scoring run to give the Mavericks an 18-17 lead. Kelso responded with a 35-yard field goal from Vincente Soto to take a 20-18 advantage with just over three minutes remaining.
