EVERETT — Coming off a bye week and possibly distracted by their homecoming-week festivities, the Everett Seagulls looked rusty.
They started off a big Western Conference 3A football game against the Meadowdale Mavericks on Friday by giving up a touchdown on the first possession and nearly allowing another first-half TD. But thanks to several timely takeaways, effective defensive adjustments and two huge pass plays, Everett rallied for arguably its biggest win of the season.
Sparked by a defense that forced three turnovers and got super stingy in the second half, Everett beat Meadowdale 16-10. Quarterback Spencer McKinnon tossed TD passes of 41 yards and 57 yards to help lift the Seagulls (4-1 Wesco 3A, 5-1 overall), who moved into sole possession of second place in the division.
“The defense was huge,” Everett senior Luke Frauenholtz said. “We rallied together and we said, ‘We’re not going to let them into the end zone again,’ and that’s exactly what happened.”
With two games to go in the regular season, Wesco 3A teams are fighting for playoff berths. First-place Glacier Peak (5-0 in division) is the only team ahead of Everett. The eight-team division has three automatic playoff berths. The No. 4 Wesco 3A finisher will play the Northwest Conference No. 2 finisher for District 1’s final 3A quad-district playoff spot.
Everett’s remaining division games are against Mountlake Terrace (2-3 in division, after beating Shorewood 35-0 on Friday) and Glacier Peak.
Meadowdale (3-2 Wesco 3A, 4-3 overall) finishes with division games against Lynnwood and Oak Harbor (3-3 Wesco 3A).
Frauenholtz, Everett’s versatile tight end/fullback/defensive lineman, made a 41-yard scoring reception in the second quarter, played solid defense and recovered Meadowdale’s onside kick in the final minute after the Mavericks cut it to 16-10 with a 31-yard field goal by Brian Marty.
“We played a lot better defense in the second half,” said Everett coach Will Soren, “and we feel fortunate to come out with a win tonight.”
Despite gaining 225 yards in the first half (127 rushing, 98 passing), Meadowdale didn’t have much to show for it. The Mavericks constantly moved the ball and kept Everett’s defense on the field, but Everett had two fumble recoveries and one interception. Everett gained just 64 yards by halftime (23 rushing, 41 passing) yet was tied 7-7.
“We made a few plays when we needed to in the first half to keep us in it,” Soren said. “Then in the second half we were just fortunate to break (a big play) now and then and … that obviously was the difference.”
McKinnon, Everett’s QB, was just 7-for-14 passing for 118 yards, but he completed the long scoring pass to Frauenholtz and added a 57-yard catch-and-run TD completion to 6-foot-5 Lucas Sontra. The latter play plus the point-after-TD kick put Everett on top 16-7 with 7 minutes, 28 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Everett’s defense played tough the rest of the way.
“I give our kids a lot of credit for battling and kind of regrouping whenever something happened and just hanging tough,” coach Soren said.
On its game-opening possession Meadowdale scored a TD, going 63 yards in 12 plays. Kyle Gage capped it with a 2-yard dive.
Meadowdale was primed to score again but its next drive ended after 19 plays, when Sontra recovered a fumbled handoff exchange at Everett’s 15-yard line. Later in the first half, Garrick Koehler recovered a fumble for Everett, and his teammate Jared Heman intercepted a pass deep in Seagulls territory with less than a minute to go in the second quarter.
“Like I told them at halftime, we weren’t happy really with the way we played,” Soren said, “but I gave them a lot of credit because we didn’t play very well and we still had a tie ballgame.
“We made some things happen,” he added.
Meadowdale didn’t get the win but it had impressive offensive stats. Mavericks quarterback Nathan Ball was 23 of 38 passing with 266 yards. He also rushed for 78 yards on 23 carries.
Meadowdale receiver Giavani Shepard made 13 receptions for 154 yards.
At Everett Memorial Stadium
Meadowdale7003—10
Everett0727—16
Meadowdale-Gage 2 run (Marty kick)
Everett—Frauenholtz 41 pass from McKinnon (Robinson kick)
Everett—ball went out of end zone for safety
Everett—Sontra 57 pass from McKinnon (Robinson kick)
Meadowdale—Marty FG 31
Records—Meadowdale 3-2 in division, 4-3 overall. Everett 4-1, 5-1.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
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