Mavs secure playoff berth

SHORELINE — This time last year, Justin Lucero was chasing down lobs and blasting cross-court forehands for Meadowdale’s tennis team.

Now, the elusive 5-foot-7 junior is dodging defenders and hauling in long-range receptions as the Meadowdale football team’s secret weapon.

Lucero recorded the first touchdown of his brief football career and set up another score with a crucial third-down catch to pace the Mavericks to a 13-0 Western Conference South Division win over Shorecrest Oct. 24 at Shoreline Stadium.

Coupled with Lynnwood’s loss to Jackson, the victory ensured the Mavericks the Western Conference’s lone berth to the Northwest District 3A playoffs for the second year in a row with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Meadowdale (4-3 in the league, 4-4 overall) will face the Northwest 3A League’s third-place finisher Nov. 11 in a state-qualifying game.

“We were definitely ready to go for this one,” Meadowdale quarterback Eric Marty said. “(Shorecrest) had been close to all the teams this year, so we knew they were a good team. They do a lot of things offensively that if you’re not making sure you’re doing the right things, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

Lucero burned a stubborn Shorecrest defense twice. On Meadowdale’s first possession he found a seam near the sideline, snared a lob from Marty and bolted to the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown.

“I hope there’s more to come,” Lucero said of his first-ever TD.

“We felt like he should get in the end zone sometime soon,” added Mavericks coach Mark Stewart. “We knew he was going to get there. He catches the ball well, he runs well. He’s got great speed.”

Despite his small stature, Stewart saw a tremendous upside in Lucero and was confident he would find his niche in Meadowdale’s offense.

“He’s not the biggest guy in the world … but we realized real quick he’s a pretty special guy,” Stewart said. “He hasn’t played at all in high school and now he’s out playing in varsity games making big plays.”

Marty connected with Lucero again late in the second quarter on third-and-18 for a 57-yard gain down to the Shorecrest 20.

Three plays later the Scots were flagged for pass interference in the end zone and Travis Anderson finished off the nine-play drive with a 1-yard TD run with 42 seconds left in the half.

Anderson led the Mavericks with 96 yards on 22 carries, including eight rushes for 42 yards on a 16-play drive that consumed more than eight minutes of the fourth quarter.

“We definitely had the passing game going early and that opened some things up on the ground,” Marty said.

Playing in front of a rowdy homecoming crowd, the Scots (0-7, 1-7) nearly sliced their deficit in half on two occasions in the third quarter, but were turned away by the Mavericks inside the 20.

Junior Jake Linton halted Shorecrest’s first second-half possession by snagging his second interception and returning it 16 yards to the Meadowdale 25.

With 21 seconds to go in the third quarter an 11-play, 48-yard Shorecrest drive stalled at the Meadowdale 12 when Jon Glancy’s fourth-down pass was dropped in the end zone.

Though Shorecrest had lost six straight after winning its non-conference season opener, Stewart reminded his players the Scots were more dangerous than their record indicated.

“They’re a really good football team that’s been losing a lot of tough, close games. They just haven’t been able to put it together,” Stewart said.

“We knew they were going to be good. We knew this was their homecoming. We knew in a sense they were still alive for the playoffs if they could beat us. It was good for us to come out and take on their pressure.”