Islanders Rue Missed Opportunities in 20-17 Playoff Loss to Meadowdale

Mercer Island varsity football players were shedding sweat and tears Saturday night at Edmonds Stadium after falling in the first round of the WIAA 3A Football State Playoffs to Meadowdale, 20-17.

Islanders star quarterback Jeff Lindquist was essentially knocked out of the game in the first half with an injury as they trailed, 14-3 in cold, rainy conditions at Edmonds Stadium. But Mercer Island showed plenty of heart in scoring two touchdowns with junior back-up QB Brian Higgins at the helm, falling just short of a comeback against the undefeated Mavericks.

"The seniors on this team deserve a lot of credit," said Mercer Island's head coach Brett Ogata. "They got us here and there's a lot of heart and effort that they've put in to this team. They handled it with class, but obviously, they're disappointed in the result."

After falling behind to Meadowdale (11-0) 14-0 in the first quarter, the Islander defense began to gel — only for UW-bound quarterback Jeff Lindquist to suffer a high ankle sprain in the second quarter.

"We focused on Lindquist," said Meadowdale head coach Mark Stewart. "We didn't want his legs to beat us and let him get behind us. We wanted to prevent him from running the ball too much."

Trailing 14-3 at the half, Mercer Island (8-3) junior quarterback Brian Higgins tried to spark the Islanders offense to life after linebacker Sam Porter intercepted a Meadowdale pass from Brian Marty on the 11-yard line with 6:29 to play in the third quarter. But a fumble into the end-zone gave the Mavericks the ball right back, and they marched down the field to make the score 20-3.

It was 20-10 after Mercer Island receiver Connor Bernal hauled in a 6-yard pass with seconds left in the third quarter. The score was keyed by a gutsy 4th-and-19 first-down conversion on a 39-yard pass play by tight end Max Dammeier.

The Islanders missed a field goal to bring them within a touch down in the fourth quarter — so when Nicky Sinclair scored with 22 seconds left in the game, Mercer Island was forced to gamble on getting the ball back with an onside kick. Meadowdale bobbled the kick, but — fortunately for the Mavericks — the ball was tapped out-of-bounds.

"We had opportunities to win the game," said Mercer Island football head coach Brett Ogata.

"When you're in that position, you've got to capitalize."