Mavericks pound Royals

EDMONDS — Not even a preemptive 45-game losing streak nor a 42-point deficit could deter the Lynnwood Royals from giving up as the clock wound down during the remaining minutes of last week’s game against Meadowdale.

Lynnwood was outmatched both offensively and defensively during its 42-0 Western Conference South Division defeat Oct. 15 at Edmonds Stadium. However, in the wake of their seventh loss this season, the Royals managed to salvage their composure by moving the ball and not giving up big plays defensively.

“The truth is, our kids played as well as we’ve ever expected them to play,” Lynnwood coach Andrew Burton said. “They came out, they gave 100 percent effort. They had very few penalties. They lined up well on defense.”

Although the Royals tackled well all game, they couldn’t stop the Mavericks’ offensive pursuit. Meadowdale scored on running plays of 18, 15, 6 and 3 yards, and on a 25-yard interception return from cornerback Tony Young.

“In a certain situation, I guess we could of said, ‘Hey this game’s out of reach,’ but we got to run some great plays and have fun doing it,” Burton said.

The Royals produced 228 rushing yards, but were unable to score on two trips inside the 10-yard line. Running back Luke St. Marie was Lynnwood’s leading rusher with 118 yards on 19 carries.

“Defensively, I think we let ‘em drive a little bit more than we’d like, but we made adjustments,” Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart said.

The Mavericks (5-2) earned every score in their victory, which in turn, helped them bolster their record in time for the playoffs. Meadowdale found familiar offensive support from running back Travis Anderson and the quarterback-receiver combination of Demetri Huffman and Jake Linton.

Anderson rushed for 140 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. All of Meadowdale’s passing yards came from the Huffman-Linton combination, with Huffman completing 8 of 10 passes to Linton for 123 yards.

“We just executed,” Huffman said. “We’ve been executing four weeks in a row, so it’s really nice to keep the streak going.”

Although Linton never made it to the endzone, he did bring in a 42-yard reception while going horizontal to the field on a diving reception, which produced the biggest offensive play of the game.

“That’s a great catch,” Stewart said. “He’s a playmaker and we know that, and we expect to get things like that out of him. He’s been fun to watch the last couple of years.”

But if the Mavericks want to continue building off their four-game win streak and gain playoff birth assurance, they need to go through Wesco South foe Everett (5-2) tonight at 7 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium.

“We got a big one against Everett,” Stewart said. “Everett’s 5-2. We’re 5-2. Three losses and you’re going to be looking for somebody to help, so we have to be ready to have a big one next week and treat it as a playoff game.”

Burton remains optimistic as the Royals prepare for Jackson and the final stages of the season.

“That’s the absolute beauty of the sport, is that here we are every Friday night,” he said. “We get to come out and play just a wonderful game, and inside of playing that wonderful game. We get to grow, and as coaching staff, as a coach, as players and as fans.”