<< Previous   of   Next >> For the Enterprise/DOUG RAMSAY  (click to enlarge) Meadowdale's Naji Moore-Taylor (1) sprints up the field as a teammate blocks Columbia River's Kevin Cotter (14) in the second half of the Mavericks' 27-17 win in the first round game of the 3A State playoffs Nov. 14 at Edmonds District Stadium. For the Enterprise/DOUG RAMSAY  (click to enlarge) Meadowdale's Sam Werner (4) eludes a tackle from a Columbia River defender as he runs up the field late in the second half of the Mavericks' 27-17 win in the first round game of the 3A State playoffs Nov. 14 at Edmonds District Stadium.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Mavericks moving on

By David Pan
Enterprise Sports editor

EDMONDS

The Meadowdale football team is hitting the road.

The Mavericks advanced to the 3A state quarterfinals after rallying for a 27-17 victory over Columbia River in a first-round playoff game Nov. 14 at Edmonds Stadium.

Meadowdale faces state runner-up Union at 5 p.m,, Saturday, Nov. 21 at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver.

“We're really excited about the win and we're enjoying it, but at the same time we know we have to focus now and get ready for a tough Union team,” Maverick quarterback Danny McDonald said.

Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart describes Union as an extremely physical team that comes out and does things right.

“They're pretty balanced,” he said. “They obviously like to mix up the plays. They're well-coached. They've got guys who can make plays.”

The trip down to Vancouver will be the first real road trip for the Mavericks, who improved to 11-0. In fact, nine of those 11 games were played in the friendly confines of Edmonds Stadium.

McDonald is looking forward to playing at McKenzie Stadium.

“I heard Union brings a lot of fans that are really into it,” he said. “We're just going to have to focus.”

Stewart's advice to his players is to enjoy the experience.

“You want to have fun with it,” he said. “We've had a great year. It's a great opportunity for us to really go to a different part of the state. It's a great program. We're going to challenge one of the best teams down there. You want to take it and enjoy the fact that we get to take on that kind of challenge.”

Meadowdale trailed 10-0 after the first quarter but senior running back Naji Moore-Taylor scored on an 18-yard run. Columbia River then answered with another touchdown and Meadowdale trailed 17-7 with 4:30 to go in the second quarter.

The Meadowdale sideline was a little concerned to be down by 10 points at that stage of the game, McDonald said.

“Columbia River was a good team,” McDonald said. “We knew we've been coming back all year. We just knew we could get it done and we did.”

McDonald connected on 18-yard touchdown pass to Sam Werner to cut the deficit to 17-14 at the 3-minute mark of the quarter. Moore-Taylor scored on a 16-yard run in the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 20-17 lead and then McDonald closed out the game with a 16-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Momentum was the key to the victory, McDonald said.

“I can't quite put a finger on why we keep starting slow,” he added. “You can see as the game goes on in the second half we scored 20 unanswered points. This week we really need to do that in the first quarter instead of the second quarter.”

Meadowdale ended up with 430 yards of total offense (337 run, 93 pass). Moore-Taylor rushed for 164 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns. McDonald completed 7 of 10 passes for 93 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He ran for 89 yards on 22 carries and scored one TD. Werner had three carries for 89 yards.

“I thought we moved the ball well most of the game,” Stewart said.

The defense shut down Columbia River in the second half.

“We did a great job on defense taking away their run early,” Stewart said. “We gave up some big plays but we fixed that problem.”

Said McDonald, “The defense keeps us in some of the games where the offense starts a little slow, They're a big part of the reason why we're 11-0.”