EDMONDS — For these Mavericks, a history-making win wouldn’t feel right without some high drama and a white-knuckle ride to the finish.
Meadowdale seemed well on its way to its first ever state playoff semifinal berth through two quarters against Peninsula, but sure enough — similar to its previous two postseason games — the Mavericks found themselves fighting for their playoff lives on the game’s final drive.
But again, Meadowdale found a way and finally earned the semifinal berth the program’s been chasing since the first of five consecutive quarterfinal losses happened in 1974.
“This was for this team and this city, and we’ve been close, and we finally got it done,” said Meadowdale coach Matt Leonard of his team’s breakthrough. “We are all heart. I said it before the game, ‘Nobody can take your heart, nobody can take your mind and they can’t take your game if we keep our heart and our mind.’ We just keep fighting. We just keep fighting no matter what.”
Meadowdale needed that fight after watching a 20-point second-half lead dissolve to a one-score game in the final minutes. Peninsula, trailing by five, had to navigate 90 yards for a win, but Jayden Jackson broke up a fourth-down pass to seal a 34-29 Class 3A state playoff quarterfinal win over Peninsula on Friday night at Edmonds Stadium.
The victory sends Meadowdale (10-2) to the Tacoma Dome next week where it will face O’Dea for a right to play in the 3A title game.
Meadowdale senior quarterback Drew Tingstad was tremendous, finishing with 266 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-25 passes. He completed 13 consecutive passes at one point. After a relatively quiet state opening-round game last week, tight end Zach Plummer logged nine catches for 104 yards and caught two first-half touchdowns.
“I have no idea why there aren’t 1,000 schools in this country recruiting that kid,” Leonard said of Tingstad. “He is all heart, he’s tough, he’s big, he’s strong. He’s a 4.0 student, and I tell him every week, ‘We are going to lean on you 10,’ and tonight he got us into the semifinals for the first time.”
Tingstad and Plummer were helped by bruising running back Kela Marshall, who finished with 80 yards on 16 carries and a receiving touchdown.
The offense set the tone early against a Peninsula team heralded for its stingy defense. The Seahawks entered the state quarters yielding less than nine points per game. Meadowdale eclipsed that average in 10 minutes, 37 seconds and scored on all five of its first-half possessions.
A Tingstad touchdown to Plummer as the first-half expired gave Meadowdale a 27-7 halftime lead and a massive momentum surge.
The Mavericks’ defense impressed during the first two quarters, allowing only 99 total yards of offense. It played well in the second half, too, but it couldn’t overcome excellent field position afforded to Peninsula time and time again.
Peninsula cut Meadowdale’s lead to 27-14 after opening its drive on the Mavs 38. A 1-yard TD on a Peninsula quarterback sneak trimmed Meadowdale’s lead to 34-21 with 3:12 to play in the third. That drive started on the Mavericks 36. Following a Meadowdale safety on a blocked punt by Peninsula that cut the Mavs’ lead to 34-23, the Seahawks scored again after starting from Meadowdale’s 38.
The Mavericks led 34-29 with with 4:50 to play and moved the ball down to Peninsula’s 10 with 2:10 remaining. A gamble by Leonard to go for it on fourth-and-2 didn’t pay off, and the Seahawks took over trailing by five on their own 10 with 2:01 to play.
Peninsula QB Burke Griffin, who had only completed two passes at that point, drove the Seahawks to midfield, but Meadowdale came up with its big fourth-down stop and the celebration was on.
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