EDMONDS — One team clearly had more at stake in last week’s football showdown between Shorewood and Meadowdale.
The Mavericks were fighting to clinch a playoff berth, as well as a share of the Western Conference South Division championship.
Shorewood showed up with the intent of spoiling the fun.
“It was important that we go out there and hold nothing back,” Shorewood coach Jeff Weible said. “At this point in the season, when you are in our situation, there is a tendency to drop off, but we played with enthusiasm. We played for the love of the game.”
The enthusiasm the Thunderbirds were able to muster up wasn’t enough to prevent Meadowdale from prevailing 26-10 in the Oct. 29 matchup at Edmonds Stadium.
For the Mavericks, the pressure was on before the game even started, as Meadowdale’s coaches, team captains and alumni motivated the team with speeches to remind them of what they were playing for.
Jay Mustard, the father of co-captain Joe Mustard and a member of the school’s last league championship team, gave the Mavericks a pep talk prior to the game.
“We went into our gym, and he showed us the banner from the last league championship and said, ‘Hey, this is you guys. Just make sure you go out and get it,’” senior running back Travis Anderson said.
The motivational talk paid off as the Mavericks forced Shorewood to go three-and-out on its first possession and then scored with a 61-yard pass to senior Jake Linton on their second offensive play.
Shorewood (3-6) countered with a 16-play, 50-yard drive that ended with a punt, but temporarily slowed Meadowdale’s momentum down.
With Meadowdale (7-2) having missed its extra-point kick, the Thunderbirds were only down 6-0 and still very much in the ball game until the second quarter, when a short punt gave the Mavericks good field position at the Shorewood 29-yard line.
From there, the proficient Meadowdale offense was able to pound the ball into the end zone in six plays as junior Kevin Kim ran the ball in for an 8-yard touchdown that opened up a 12-0 lead.
The Thunderbirds were unable to answer until late in the second quarter when Taylor Griffith kicked a 38-yard field goal. With 28 seconds remaining in the half, Griffith’s 52-yarder fell short.
The deficit tightened in the second half as Shorewood senior running back Wil Barker turned on the afterburners and ran the ball 23 yards for a touchdown on an option play that narrowed the margin to 12-10.
The Mavericks closed the door on Shorewood in the fourth quarter after the offensive line opened up a gaping hole that senior running back Justin Lucero was able to race through for a 22-yard touchdown.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks followed up with a steady drive that ended in a 5-yard touchdown run by Anderson. Senior quarterback Demetri Huffman completed a pass to junior tight end Alex Romanyuk for a two-point conversion.
The Thunderbirds got as far as the Meadowdale 29-yard line on their final possession before time ran out and Meadowdale left the field to celebrate a share of the league title.
“That was a good football team,” Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart said. “They were capable of beating us and we knew that. But we got the job done, and now we’re going to enjoy being league co-champs.”
It was the third loss in four weeks for the Thunderbirds, who finished league play alone in eighth place.
“With the wind at our backs in the fourth quarter, things could have been different,” Weible said. “We blocked good and ran good, but we had some breakdowns on a couple of drives. Our offense has struggled that way all season.”
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