Meadowdale faces Wesco 3A South-rival Lynnwood on 4-game win streak

EDMONDS — The preseason consensus around the Wesco 3A South was that Meadowdale would struggle to compete for the league title.

Evidently no one told the Mavericks.

Meadowdale (3-0 Wesco South, 4-1 overall) enters Friday’s 5 p.m. matchup at Edmonds Stadium against district rival Lynnwood (2-1, 4-1) tied with Edmonds-Woodway atop the division.

“Our big question mark was our offensive line,” said Meadowdale head coach Matt Leonard, whose team has started five different line combinations. “It’s plug and play. Kids know their jobs and each week we get another kid stepping up. We’re getting healthy right now. We’re getting a couple kids back this week, so we expected to be the champion of this league. I know a lot of people didn’t think we were, but that kind of blew my mind to be honest. But I feel like we’re starting to play like that team.”

The Mavericks have won four straight after dropping their opener 55-9 to Class 4A Monroe. In fact, Meadowdale is coming off convincing back-to-back wins over Mountlake Terrace and Shorewood in which it outscored those two teams 83-7.

“We get stuff fixed when we (played Monroe),” Leonard said. “If we had a played a 2A non-conference opponent that we had just rolled we wouldn’t have gotten some things fixed. We made changes. We moved guys positions and went back to the basics. That’s starting to pay off and we’re starting to play better each week. That’s what you have to do is play better each week.”

Meanwhile, Lynnwood was a preseason favorite and rolled to four straight wins to open the season before suffering its first loss last week 21-18 to Edmonds-Woodway. Turnovers and penalties crippled the Royals last Friday and eliminating the self-inflicted wounds will be a key for Lynnwood.

“I think we learned from our mistakes in playing Woodway and I think these guys are bouncing back pretty well,” Lynnwood coach Keauntea Bankhead said. “Monday’s practice and (Tuesday), we had two great practices and hopefully we’ll have another good one today. Going into Friday’s game I feel very comfortable.”

While Meadowdale had to answer questions on the offensive line, the skill positions were never in doubt. Quarterback Drew Tingstad has thrown for 1,230 yards and seven touchdowns against three interceptions, while returning All-Conference running back Kela Marshall is averaging nearly 127 yards on the ground per contest.

Returning All-Conference tight end Zach Plummer has 15 catches for 290 yards, while receiver Haelin Roberts has 14 catches for 397 yards and fellow wideout Will Schafer adds 15 receptions for 240 yards.

The Mavs model themselves after the up-tempo spread offense popularized by the University of Oregon.

“That’s all predicated based on the intellect of the holistic group (and) if one guy can’t get it at that pace it’s not going to be able to run,” Leonard said. “We haven’t been at that pace this year because we’ve had so many moving parts. We’ll get there eventually. Who knows? That may be Friday night, that may be in the playoffs.”

The Royals have some offensive firepower of their own. Senior quarterback Alton Hammond was an All-Conference signal-caller last season. Hammond remains a dual threat and tossed two touchdown passes in the loss to Edmonds-Woodway. Returning All-Conference receiver Ryley Johnson is Hammond’s top target.

“He’s definitely grown as a quarterback,” Bankhead said of Hammond. “Before he still had running back tendencies. He’s just athletic and we needed a quarterback and he could throw the ball pretty well and we’ve just been grooming him to play quarterback. He definitely can run the ball. You see that when he gets out of the pocket. He’s good at scrambling and getting first downs too.”

Despite Friday’s loss the Royals are off to their best start in two decades and aiming for their first postseason berth since 1995.

“I think we’re on track to do that,” Bankhead said. “They know what I expect. They come each and every day ready to work. We joke around and have fun, but when it’s time to practice we get after it.

“When kids are having fun they’re more receptive to being motivated and work hard for you.”

Follow Herald Writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.