QB Ball scores five TDs

EDMONDS — The Meadowdale offense kicked it into high gear during the second half of its clash with district rival Lynnwood.

The Mavericks scored four unanswered touchdowns to pull away from the Royals and take a decisive 49-7 victory in a Western Conference 3A football game Oct. 22 at Edmonds Stadium.

Senior quarterback Nathan Ball threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as Meadowdale (4-2 in the league, 5-2 overall) remained in a tie for second place with Everett (4-2, 5-2). The Seagulls, however, defeated the Mavericks in an Oct. 15 game that saw Meadowdale easily outgain Everett on offense.

This time the Mavericks had the statistical edge both in yards and in points.

“Last week we moved the ball. We couldn’t put it in the end zone,” said Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart. “We’re continuing to work on minimizing mistakes and when we got down to the red zone we put it in the end zone. That was the difference.”

Ball rushed for 135 yards on 10 carries and completed 9 of 11 passes for 157 yards. The Mavericks had a 28-7 edge in first downs and outgained Lynnwood (0-6, 1-7) 541 yards to 80.

Meadowdale took only a 21-7 lead into halftime. The Royals struck first when Colton Degraw returned a fumble 56 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Meadowdale tied the score on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ball and then took a 14-7 lead on a 35-yard TD pass from Ball to Kyle Gage. The Mavericks tacked on a 35-yard scoring run by Gage in the second quarter.

The second half saw Meadowdale pick up the pace on offense.

“We realized that we should have a lot more points,” Ball said. “We were kind of moving a little slow on offense. We really focused on getting a good tempo and doing everything right and rolling like we should be and we did.”

Lynnwood coach Mike Don was pleased by the Royals’ performance in the first half but saw his players start to tire in the third and fourth quarters.

“In the first half, we competed really hard,” Don said. “I thought with injuries and Meadowdale a good team, we just wore down at the end of the game. They wore us down.”

Ball ran 30 yards for touchdown early in the third quarter and then added a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kegan Larsen as the Mavericks extended their advantage to 34-7. Ball found Anders Peterson on an 8-yard scoring strike less than a minute into the fourth quarter and Amanuel Tekle closed out the scoring with a 1-yard TD run.

Gage finished with 93 yards on nine carries and Michael Dever had 69 yards on nine attempts. Peterson caught four passes for 57 yards.

“We had that one fumble at the beginning, but after that we started playing our ball,” said Ball. “We finally got our run game going like we expected it to be all year.”

Meadowdale faces Oak Harbor (3-3, 5-3) at 7 p.m., Oct. 28 on the road. With a victory and an Everett loss to first-place Glacier Peak, The Mavericks would secure the league’s No. 2 berth to the Quad-district playoffs.

“We kind of took care of business and did what we needed to do to get to next week,” Stewart said. “We’ll see if we can win that game and we need a little help to get that second spot.”

The Mavericks are a solid team, according to Don.

“I’m impressed with how physical there are up front and how hard their kids play,” he said.

Lynnwood takes on district rival Mountlake Terrace (3-3, 5-3) at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at Edmonds Stadium.

“We just want to go out and compete every week,” Don said. “Our kids want to show people that we’re getting better and that we’re able to go compete in games. I think we’re getting closer to it. We’re starting to be more competitive in games and I think they’re more confident in themselves and that’s a good thing to see.”