EDMONDS — With four of the eight Wesco 3A South teams belonging to the Edmonds School District it might seem that Edmonds Memorial Stadium plays host to a district rivalry game every week.
But Friday’s game at 5 p.m. between Edmonds-Woodway and Meadowdale is for more than just district bragging rights. It’s a clash between two teams with perfect conference records, and the winner will lay claim to the Wesco 3A South title.
“It’s a good position to be in,” Meadowdale coach Matt Leonard said. “Both teams have to feel good about what they’ve been able to do after some tough starts and be able to rebound and get both their teams going in the right direction. They’re playing awfully well and we’re playing well.”
Both teams come into Friday with 5-0 conference marks and play only one more conference game before the Week 10 crossover matchup. That renders the result of next week’s game inconsequential for Friday’s winner.
Edmonds-Woodway enters Friday’s game on a five-game winning streak after dropping its first two games of the regular season to Class 4A Jackson and Woodinville.
The Warriors had little trouble with Shorewood last week during a 49-0 victory in which star tailback Cappassio Cherry rushed 17 times for 153 yards and five touchdowns.
“He’s a fast runner, he’s got good moves, but he also runs tough and gets the tough yards,” E-W coach John Gradwohl said. “Get healthy — that was a big key last week — we’re trying to get healthy again.”
The win over Shorewood came after a pair of hard-fought victories against Snohomish (28-26) and Lynnwood (21-18). The Warriors have allowed just three points in their other three conference games combined.
“I thought we’d have a pretty good defense (this season),” Gradwohl said. “We haven’t seen the improvement on defense that we saw on offense because (the defense) has been good the whole year.”
The E-W defense will face another stiff test Friday against the high-scoring Mavericks. Meadowdale opened the season with a loss to Class 4A Monroe before reeling off six straight wins in which it hasn’t scored fewer than 30 points.
“We’ll see if we’re really as good offensively as we think we are against a defense like (E-W),” Leonard said.
The Mavericks also have shutout wins over Shorewood and Shorecrest, and held Mountlake Terrace to a single touchdown.
The offensive juggernaut hinged early in the year on a young offensive line, but that seems to be a solved issue.
“They’re starting to gel a little bit for sure,” Leonard said. “They’ve played a few games together in a row now without getting banged up, so knock on wood, we can keep that going.”
Senior quarterback Drew Tingstad has thrown for 1,751 yards and 17 touchdowns against three interceptions this season. Haelin Roberts (27 receptions, 688 yards, six touchdowns), Zach Plummer (17 receptions, 329 yards, three touchdowns) and Will Schafer (19 receptions, 301 yards, three touchdowns) are Tingstad’s top targets.
“That’s what you want a senior two-year starter to do, is take care of the football, get us into good plays, get us out of bad plays and kind of be that leader on the field,” Leonard said.
Kela Marshall has rushed for 653 yards and 10 touchdowns while fellow running back Jashon Butler has played in the last two games after suffering an injury in the Week 1 loss to Monroe and has 324 yards and four touchdowns. Tingstad has also rushed for two scores.
Follow Herald Writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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