Mallard Creek Mavericks blast past East Meck Eagles 50-3 in first round
Mallard Creek coach Mike Palmieri always says one of the keys to his teams’ consistent success is the ability to “play fast.”
The Mavericks’ 50-3 first round 4AA West Region home playoff victory over East Meck was a classic example. Without the benefit of a turnover, Mallard Creek scored twice in the game’s first three-and-a-half minutes and never looked back.
“If we start fast and get ahead of you we’re tough to beat,” Palmieri said. “We thought that they might have a hard time scoring against us so we wanted to keep the pressure on.”
Running back Chancery Bowman ran for three touchdowns and Darnell Walker for two more and quarterback James Smith passed for 160 yards and another score as the Mavericks rolled up 410 yards total offense. The defense allowed the Eagles 41 yards for the game and set up a touchdown with a blocked punt by Nasjzae Bryant.
Mallard Creek, a lower-than-usual No. 6 seed in these playoffs, scored on its first three possessions on a 32-yard run touchdown run by Darnell Walker and runs of 4 and 3 yards by Chancery Bowman.
A fumble recovery by East Meck linebacker Charles Rucker set up the Eagles’ only score, a 33-yard field goal by Christian Thomas with 2:10 left before halftime, but the Mavericks squeezed in one more score before the break on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Corey Sutton for a 29-3 lead.
In the second half, Bowman ran for a 36-yard touchdown; the blocked punt set up a 4-yard scoring run by Walker and Kendrick Gadson ran for a 3-yarder in the fourth quarter.
The victory sets up the latest meeting in the cross-county rivalry with Butler on Friday.
Quote: “If we’re scoring with the help of our defense and our special teams we’re going to be in good shape. We practice hard and we know those breaks are coming. We’re built for the kind of playoff game that we having coming up next week. We’re glad to have the opportunity to play a great program like that.” — Mallard Creek coach Mike Palmieri.
Records: Mallard Creek 9-2; East Meck 6-6 (final)
Worth mentioning: Mallard Creek rang up 55 yards on five penalties in the first half. But unlike some other games this season, the yellow flags didn’t seem to impede the Mavericks progress much. Two lost fumbles, one of which led to East Meck’s only score were more uncharacteristic. “Nothing too costly,” Palmieri said. “The kids got over it.”
What's Next: Mallard Creek plays No. 3-seed Butler at 7:30 Friday night in a second round game either at Butler or a neutral location. East Meck’s season is complete.
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Mallard Creek Mavericks blast past East Meck Eagles 50-3 in first round."