LYNNWOOD — After a sun-drenched second day of practice Thursday afternoon, third-year Meadowdale football coach Matt Leonard was asked to reflect on the legacy of last season’s historic team.
Those Mavericks made history by earning the program’s first-ever trip to the state semifinals.
And they did so in dramatic fashion, winning three consecutive white-knuckle playoff games by a combined 13 points.
“The way that our kids rallied together in tough moments, the way that our kids fought through adversity — more than the wins and losses, I think that’s the legacy that group of kids left,” Leonard said.
Meadowdale demonstrated its battle-tested resilience throughout those three playoff victories.
The Mavericks rallied from a 22-0 first-quarter deficit to punch their ticket to state. They won their first-round game on a 48-yard touchdown pass that came on fourth-and-19 with 57 seconds left to play.
And after nearly blowing a 20-point second-half lead in the quarterfinals, Meadowdale’s defense came up with a late stop to preserve the victory and make program history.
Leonard, however, wouldn’t mind having a few less-stressful wins this fall.
“Hopefully we get some easier wins for the parents in the stands and the family and friends — and for my own blood pressure,” Leonard said with a smile. “But those (nail-biters) are the fun ones. Those are the ones you remember.”
Yet while last year’s team will forever hold its place in Meadowdale lore, the Mavericks have turned the page and zeroed in on the new season.
Leonard said they held a “burial ceremony” of sorts for last year’s squad during team camp earlier this summer. With the team gathered on a Puget Sound beach, assistant coach James Harmon tossed a chain link into the water from a symbolic chain that represented last year’s senior class.
“He threw his link into the (water) as kind of putting to rest last year’s team,” Leonard said. “This year’s a new year. And this is our new story.”
One of Meadowdale’s biggest challenges this season will be to replace stars such as quarterback Drew Tingstad, receiver Haelin Roberts, running back Kela Marshall and tight end Zach Plummer.
“I think you ask kids to be who they are,” Leonard said. “These kids can’t try to be (those stars). They’ve got to try to forge their own path. We love the guys that we have, and they’re filling in great.”
The Mavericks return senior running back Jashon Butler, who is practicing with a cast on his left hand while recovering from a broken finger. Butler rushed for 756 yards and six touchdowns in nine games last season, serving as a speedy complement to the more powerful Marshall.
“Jashon might be the most underrated 1,000-yard offensive player in the state,” Leonard said. “Because of what Kela did, Jashon kind of went under the radar.
“He’s explosive, he’s tough, he catches the ball in the backfield — he’s kind of a nightmare. I tell him all the time to watch Barry Sanders tape, because he kind of runs like that. He’s always spinning and moving and juking. He’s kind of fun to watch.”
At quarterback, junior Nate Hebert and lefty sophomore Hunter Moen are battling for the starting job.
“You kind of want one guy to take it and go, but they’ve both exponentially grown at the same rate, and they’re both getting better every day and learning every day,” Leonard said. “I chart every throw, and we threw zero interceptions at camp, and we’ve thrown zero the first two (practices). When they aren’t turning the ball over, it makes it a tough decision.”
Meadowdale returns a pair of starting receivers in seniors Will Schafer and Drew Harvey, who lead a senior-filled group of pass-catchers that will look to minimize the losses of Roberts and Plummer.
“They’re all seniors, they’ve all played and they’re all in their third year of the system, so we’re pretty deep there,” Leonard said of his team’s receiving corps. “We feel pretty good.”
Unlike last season, the Mavericks have experience on the offensive line with three returning starters. That’s a stark contrast from last fall, when Meadowdale was forced to break in new starters at all five positions on the line.
“It’s great to have veterans on the line,” junior lineman Alex Maxwell said. “It’s so much easier. The chemistry is great with everyone.”
Meadowdale is most experienced on the defensive side of the ball, where Leonard said every starter will be a senior.
“Almost every guy that’s going to play defense for us this year has played a ton of minutes,” Leonard said. “We’re going to start 11 seniors on defense, which is a really nice thing to have.”
The Mavericks hope their senior leadership can continue the legacy left behind by last year’s history-making group.
“Last year we had a lot of success, winning a lot of football games,” Shafer said. “But besides that, we established a great culture with our guys that we had.
“We had a lot of leadership last year that we lost, but this year we’re getting it back with the same culture and same mindset.”
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