Bellevue Overwhelms Meadowdale 71-21 in 3A State Round of 16

Bellevue delivered a commanding performance on its home field Friday night, overwhelming Meadowdale 71-21 in a 3A State Round of 16 playoff game at Bellevue Memorial Stadium. The No. 2 Wolverines (10-1) piled up 549 rushing yards, not counting quarterback kneels, and scored 10 total touchdowns to end the season of the No. 15 Mavericks (10-1), the Wesco 3A South champions.

Meadowdale briefly caught a break in the first quarter. After the Mavericks punted for a second straight time, Bellevue sophomore Lonzell Hall returned the kick for a touchdown, but penalties wiped the score off the board and pushed the Wolverines back to their own nine-yard line. Any hope that the underdogs could seize momentum vanished on the next snap, when junior Romulus "RJ" Ward took his first carry of the night 91 yards for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion stretched the lead to 15-0.

It was the first of six Bellevue touchdowns covering 25 yards or more, five on the ground and one on a fumble return. Ward finished with 145 rushing yards, Hall added 129 and junior Trevon Barnes led the way with 150. Quarterback Kason Carta attempted only two passes, and he chipped in a 45-yard touchdown run off a fake handoff as Bellevue built a 22-0 lead barely 10 minutes into the game.

Meadowdale's offense came to life in the second quarter. Facing fourth down in Wolverines territory, senior quarterback Zekiah "Ki" Gamble connected with junior Kevaughn Steich, who leapt over three defenders and spun away for a 42-yard touchdown. Bellevue answered with long scoring runs from Hall and sophomore Kyler Aslakson, and the Mavericks struck again before halftime when Gamble found senior Owen Fulford in the back of the end zone to make it 36-14.

Any comeback hopes faded quickly after the break. Hall opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown run, Aslakson scored from 25 yards out, and Gamble's two-yard touchdown pass to junior Taylor Brown on fourth down only trimmed the margin to 50-21. After Barnes broke a 43-yard scoring run, Meadowdale fumbled on consecutive possessions, and senior Troy Masunu returned the second one nearly 40 yards for the touchdown that set the final score.

Gamble completed 16 of 27 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns, and Steich caught seven passes for 118 yards and a score. But Meadowdale managed just 75 rushing yards, most of them on Gamble scrambles. "It was a big, physical fight, and they came out on top," Ki Gamble said, crediting Bellevue's linebackers and defensive line.

Meadowdale coach Antwoine Gamble said his staff had a strong plan against Bellevue's Wing-T offense, but his players could not maintain their assignments against the Wolverines' misdirection and physical backs. "We had success at times, but ultimately, that's a pretty good program that does what they do really well," he said.

The loss denied Meadowdale its first trip to the state quarterfinals since 2016. Bellevue, by contrast, has not missed the quarterfinals since 2016, when WIAA sanctions kept the program out of the postseason, and the streak stretches back to 2000 if the Wolverines' vacated 2012 to 2014 seasons are included.

Antwoine Gamble told his players the result would not define their season, pointing to work that began in the weight room three days after last season ended. The night closed a campaign in which Ki Gamble earned league MVP honors and Antwoine Gamble was named Coach of the Year. "Being able to be with him every day. I feel like he's a big role model to me," Ki said of Antwoine. "And being able to look up to him every day, and him being up by my side every time, it's a great feeling."