Mavs secure first win on the road
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months, 4 weeks AGO
MOSES LAKE – On Thursday, the Mavericks opened their season on the road against Oak Harbor and brought home a 49-6 win. Head coach Brett Jay said he was happy with what he saw from his team.
“I thought our effort was great, and I thought our attitude is great, and we're excited for the win, and we're going to clean some things up moving forward,” he said.
In their lone score of the first quarter, Brady Jay found wide receiver Grant Smith over the middle, who bulldozed an Oak Harbor defender for an 18-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Brady found receiver Taggart Rathbun in the back of the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown, increasing their lead to 14-0. On their next offensive drive, Brady completed a short pass to the right hash to running back Elijah Burns, who followed his blockers up the sideline for a 12-yard touchdown.
After some continued offensive success, the Mavericks started the third quarter strong after Brady rolled out left to find Burns over the middle for a 45-yard gain through the air. This would set them up for a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tyce Miller, increasing their lead to 42-6.
In the fourth quarter, the Mavs found the endzone for the last time after Brady found Smith once again for a 27-yard touchdown pass, widening the gap to 49-6.
The Mavs' offense was dominant throughout the game. Brett thought his quarterback was well composed throughout the game and did not let anything get to him.
“(Brady) did a nice job of taking what the defense gave us. He spread the ball around well and used his legs a couple times, which is good, but overall, I thought he did a nice job managing the line of scrimmage and leading,” Brett said.
Brett also praised the offensive line for keeping their signal caller upright. He said the pass protection was outstanding, and he could see the offseason training pay off against Oak Harbor.
“We're definitely bigger, faster and stronger up there, and I thought we did a nice job in the box,” he said.
Brady finished the day with 36/47 on pass attempts, 473 yards passing, and seven touchdowns. He also recorded 65 yards on the run Thursday. Burns and Smith both shone, combining for 274 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Miller had 67 yards receiving and Rathbun finished 65 and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, the Mavs only allowed a total of 139 yards. 138 of them were on the run. The defense set a school record for passing yards allowed after only allowing one yard the whole game.
Treyson Knowles had six tackles, two sacks and a tackle for loss. John Rainey had 18 tackles and a sack. Petrah Mackenzie recorded 12 tackles of his own. Tag Rathbun logged 10 tackles. Carson Huberdeau recorded nine tackles for the Mavs.
As they look ahead, Brett said the Mavericks plan to work on some details and execution of the game plan.
“We had some dropped balls as a receiving group that we want to get better at. We want to work on throwing on time offensively. We need to do a better job of maintaining an edge throughout the game and tackle better as a team,” he said.
The Mavericks are on the road again Sept. 13 to play North Creek at 3 p.m.
BOX SCORE:
MLHS: 7-21-14-7: 49
OHHS: 0 -6-0 -0: 6
ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
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