If you’re a Shorecrest fan, it’s not the homecoming football game you’d like to see. The Meadowdale Mavericks came back from last weekend’s heartbreaking 20-14 double overtime loss against Edmonds-Woodway with a blowout over the Shorecrest Scots. Rory Spillum and Malik Braxton each had two touchdowns in the first half. Spillum’s first score was a 61-yard touchdown for the first points of the game while both of Braxton’s touchdowns were on plays for over 45 yards. By the end of the first half, the Mavericks already held a 35-0 lead and then sent in the backups for two quarters. Michael Fisher scored the only touchdown for the Scots on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The first six minutes of the game was a defensive battle.The Mavs went three and out, then the Scots went three and out, and then the Mavs went three and out again. The Scots got the first first down of the game on 2nd and 3 from the MHS 33 yard line when Fisher picked up 4 yards. But then two false start penalties stalled the drive, and the Scots were stopped on 3rd and 19. The ensuing punt went to the MHS 3 yard line. On 2nd and 6, Braxton got the handoff and ran 27 yards down the sideline to the 35 yard line. Then, two plays later, Spillum got the handoff, busted through a hole, and sprinted 61 yards to the house, untouched. Brett Schafer added the extra point, and the Mavs had a 7-0 lead with 3:26 to go in the first.

The Scots started on their own 34-yard line after Fisher returned the kickoff 24 yards. First play of the drive, quarterback Nik Hendricks got rocked for a 5-yard loss by Tiano Tialavea. The Mavs forced a three and out two plays after the sack, and they got the ball back on their own 45 yard line with 1:23 to go. Braxton got the hand-off on 1st and 10 and ran 20 yards before being tackled, but a holding call brought the play back and made it 1st and 7 from the 47. The next play, Braxton got it back and ran 14 yards for a first down at the SHS 38 yard line. Then on 2nd and 16 after a penalty, QB Jeremiah Evans slung a pass to Caleb Tingstad down the middle for a 34-yard gain with 20 seconds to go. It was 1st and 10 on the SHS 10 and Braxton picked up 4 yards as the quarter ended with the Mavericks up 7-0.

First play of the second quarter: Evans hits a diving Charlie White in the endzone for six more Maverick points, and the Mavs took a 14-0 lead. Shorecrest got the ball back on its own 33-yard line, but on 3rd and 8, Hendricks’ pass was picked off by Josiah Evans and returned for a touchdown. However, a penalty called the run back to the Shorecrest 33 yard line, and the Mavs started their next drive there. On 1st and 10, Evans called his own number and ran 12 yards on the read option, and a facemask penalty added 15 more yards to the run. The Mavs started with a first and goal at the SHS 10 yard line. On 2nd and 5, Spillum was given the carry and he ran five yards up the middle to make it 21-0 MHS with 9:27 left in the half.

After the Mavs forced a three and out, Braxton was set to return the punt. However, he muffed it and Spencer Brewer jumped on it at the 50-yard line. The first play of that drive was a shot at the end zone, but once again, Evans was all over the pass and he picked it off on the Maverick 16 yard line. The next MHS drive took only three plays. First, Braxton caught a screen pass and went 39 yards and onto the Scots 46 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Braxton got the handoff and ran up the middle for a 46-yard touchdown to put the Mavs up 28-0 with 6:16 to play in the half. The Scots once again got nothing on offense and had to punt. Meadowdale’s offense stalled on their ensuing drive after a 24-yard Braxton run was called back for holding, and so they punted it right back. The Scots fielded the ball at their own 21-yard line with 3:30 to play. They managed to convert a third down this drive. Matt Brennan picked up 5 yards on a run on 3rd and 4, but with 41.2 seconds and on 3rd and 5, Hendricks’ pass was picked off by Nicholas Neely at the Meadowdale 49 yard line. The first play after that was a screen to Braxton, and he took it 51 yards to the end zone to make it 35-0 Mavericks just before the half ended.

The Scots started the second half with the ball and Hendricks connected with Brantle Harris for 17 yards on 2nd and 8. After Hendricks was sacked for a three yard loss on 3rd and 3, the Scots lined up in punt formation but put Brennan back as the punter. He took the snap and then started to run for the first, but Blake Jackson sniffed it out and sacked him at the Scots 30 yard line for a turnover on downs. On 1st and 10, Spillum got the handoff and picked up 21 yards and then got the last 9 yards the next play, also on a designed run. Those seven points put the Mavs up 42-0 and were the last points they scored.

Ten minutes remained to play in the quarter, though.The Mavs sent in the backup defense against Hendricks and the read option. After Fisher got a 35-yard kickoff return to make it 1st and 10 from the 50 yard line, the Mavs defense stopped the Scots on three straight plays. But on 4th and 5, Hendricks found Harris for a 14- yard gain. Then on 3rd and 7 after that, Jake Oliver picked up 6 yards on a pass, forcing another 4th down situation. Again, the Scots went for it, but Hendricks’ pass was batted down by Isaiah Barhoum to force a turnover on downs. The Mavs did nothing on their drive and kicked a short punt, so the Scots had the ball on the MHS 44 yard line with 4:10 to play.

On 1st down, Harris picked up 15 yards on a catch to make it 1st and 10 on the MHS 28. Paul Hong sacked Hendricks for a 4 yard loss on 1st and 10, and then on 3rd and 9, the Scots lost 5 yards after a lateral was fumbled, setting up 4th and 14. Hendricks hit Briggon Weaver on a crossing route and he got 19 yards on the play to convert the first down. Two plays later and three yards gained, the quarter was over. The Mavs held a 42-0 lead going into the fourth.

That lead didn’t last. On the first play of the fourth, Fisher got the handoff on the read option and ran up the gut for 12 yards and a Shorecrest touchdown. That broke the shutout, and the score was 42-7 Mavericks. For the next 12 minutes, the clock was only stopped on turnovers and penalties, so the game went by quickly. Though the Scots got a lot of yardage in garbage time, they turned the ball over twice on fumbles. The fumbles sealed Shorecrest’s fate and the Mavericks took home a 42-7 win the night before Shorecrest’s homecoming celebration.

With the win, the Mavs improve to 3-1 (1-0 in conference) and play again next Friday at home versus Shorewood at 8 p.m. That game will be Meadowdale’s homecoming football game, and the day after is an SAT testing date. As for the Scots, they fall to 1-3 (0-1 in conference) and play at home versus Glacier Peak next Friday at 7 p.m.

– By Quint Turner