Meadowdale football team tops Mountlake Terrace in penalty-filled contest

EDMONDS — Jashon Butler is back. And he and the Meadowdale football team was able to withstand both Mountlake Terrace and the officials Friday night.

Butler, returning from injury, rushed for three touchdowns as the Mavericks defeated the Hawks 41-14 Friday night in a penalty-riddled Wesco 3A South contest at Edmonds Stadium.

Between them Mavericks and Hawks were flagged 33 times for 329 yards — 17 times for 190 yards for Meadowdale and 16 times for 139 yards for Mountlake Terrace. But the Mavericks used Butler’s legs, quarterback Hunter Moen’s arm and receiver Will Schafer’s hands to overcome the adversity.

“Disgustingly awful,” was how Meadowdale coach Matt Leonard described the game. “I don’t know, when the officials take the game into their hands, that’s just wrong, and it’s wrong for both sides. It’s wrong for the fans, it’s wrong for Terrace, for ourselves. Officials are supposed to be a part of the game to make sure it’s still safe, not to take center stage or take grudges or make it personal. That was just unbelievable. I know I’m going to get in trouble for saying that, but it’s unreal, that was an unreal game.”

Around all the penalties Butler rushed for 115 yards on 19 carries, Moen went 20-for-35 for 312 yards and two touchdowns, and Schafer caught four passes for 145 yards and two scores as Meadowdale (3-2 overall, 2-1 conference) was in control throughout.

“I thought we played extremely hard,” said Leonard, whose team also forced six turnovers. “We played hard the whole game. We’ve got guys at different spots because of injuries, but they rose to the occasion. We made some mistakes, we’re playing some young kids who make some mistakes, but they played their butts off. That’s what got them in trouble. They said, ‘Coach we’re just playing hard, we’re playing through the whistle like you teach us.’ ‘No, I’m not mad at you, at some point I guess we just have to lay off because we’re getting penalties.’ But I thought we played extremely hard.”

Butler had missed the previous two games because of an ankle injury. But he returned Friday and scored twice in the second half as the Mavericks raced out to a 27-7 lead and were never threatened.

“I’m like 80 percent right now,” Butler said. “I’m trying to get back to 100 in time for Woodway (the Mavericks play Edmonds-Woodway next week).

“Honestly, I could have played better, but that’s every game,” Butler added. “I’m just trying to get it back to 100 percent so I can do even better than I did.”

Jesse Martineau was 25-for-40 for 316 yards and two touchdowns for Mountlake Terrace (3-2, 0-2). Brandon Bach caught eight passes for 182 yards and a score.

Meadowdale was the crisper team in the first half, and the Mavericks rode that to an early 13-0 lead. On its second possession Meadowdale raced 89 yards on five plays, with Moen hitting Schafer on a quick slant up the middle that went 18 yards for a touchdown. Then on their next possession the Mavericks needed just three plays to go 31 yards. with Butler bouncing outside to the left to score on a 10-yard run, staking Meadowdale to a 13-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game, and it looked like it was going to be a rout.

However, Mountlake Terrace was able to keep up with the Mavericks in the second quarter. The Hawks got on the board courtesy of a drive aided by a long completion and a pair of Meadowdale penalties with Martineau hitting Keegan Grayson in the right flat for a 6-yard score to make it 13-7.

Meadowdale threatened to run away with it again with two more scores. Schafer brought down a long Martineau jump ball, then spun out of two tackles for a 48-yard touchdown. Then Butler got his second score of the game, leaping over the line on a 1-yard plunge as the Mavericks stretched the lead to 27-7.

But the Hawks drove late in the half and found the end zone again when Martineau lofted the ball into the left corner of the end zone and Bach hauled it in for a 14-yard touchdown, making it a 27-14 game going into halftime.

The second half turned into a stalemate until Meadowdale clinched it with a pair of late touchdowns, Butler walking into the end zone on another 1-yard run and Anthony Toyne scoring on a 2-yard fumble return to close out the scoring.

Click here for box score.