BLAINE – Needing a win to keep their post season hopes alive, the Borderites did just that by defeating Meridian 27-22 on Thursday night.
Because of the outcome, Blaine, Meridian and Mount Baker ended the conference season all tied for third place. The allotment of teams to make it into the postseason for the Northwest Conference 1A is three. Nooksack Valley and Lynden Christian have already clinched the first two spots, and they will play each other tonight for the conference championship.
This means that the Borderites will face the Mountaineers at 6:00 at Blaine High School in a Kansas Tie Breaker (high school overtime rules). The winner of that contest will take on Meridian at the same location after a small break. Whichever team wins the second matchup will represent the Northwest Conference as the third seed in next weekend’s “Round-of-24”. The gate on Monday will open at 4:30, and tickets are just $2.
Back to Thursday night…
After a scoreless first quarter, Meridian got a big play when senior quarterback Jaeger Fyfe threw a quick pass to the left sideline where senior Landen Downey made the reception, broke a tackle and rumbled 35 yards and into Borderite territory. After a few more first downs, Meridian was able to punch it in for six points when sophomore running back Ethan Valich powered into the end zone from a yard out. Downey’s extra point gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead.
On the following possession, Blaine freshman quarterback Connor Brown entered the game on 2nd-and-10 from midfield, and looped a pass down the left sideline for sophomore wide receiver Peyton Bouma who came down with the 22-yard reception.
Five running plays followed, and then the Borderites got on the board when senior quarterback Colin Davis dotted senior Logan Villarreal perfectly with a well-times shovel pass for a 4-yard touchdown.
Blaine possessed the ball for most of the first half, as Meridian was held to just 15 plays on offense, yet the two teams went into the locker room tied 7-7 at the half.
The Trojans received the second half kickoff, and got a first down, but was eventually turned over on downs near midfield on 4th-and-3 when Davis and junior cornerback Kai Kerwin combined on the stop.
The Borderites then lined up behind their huge offensive line and ran the ball 11 consecutive times with the final run being a one-yard quarterback sneak by Davis for a touchdown. Blaine held a 14-7 lead.
Meridian was able to drive past midfield on its following possession but the Trojans 4th-down pass was broken up by Villarreal, which gave Blaine the ball back at its own 46-yard line.
Two plays later, senior running back Jaiden Paez ripped off a 46-yard run around right end, and was pushed out of bounds at the 2-yard line. Davis scored his second touchdown of the game two plays later and the Borderites held a 21-7 lead with 10:06 left in the game.
Meridian went to the air assault, as Fyfe quickly darted his receivers to lead his team down the field. He then found wide receiver Kasey Brennan for a 43-yard touchdown pass after the speedy senior got behind the Borderite secondary. There was a penalty against Blaine on the point after, which allowed the Trojans a better opportunity to go for two points, and Downey powered his way for the conversion.
The Borderite lead was cut to 21-15 with 9:15 left in the game.
This was when Paez really came alive, as the county’s leading rusher knifed through the opposing defense time after time with first-down runs and he capped the drive with a 43-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was no good, and Blaine led 27-15 with 7:08 remaining in the contest.
Paez finished the game with 237 yards rushing on 34 carries.
Fyfe came back and completed a tight end screen to senior James Hedahl for 13 yards to put Meridian into Borderite territory, and followed that up with a 35-yard pass to freshman River Todd who found himself briefly open on a post pattern.
One play later, Downey got behind a Landon Rowley block for a five-yard touchdown run, which cut the Blaine lead to five points, 27-22, with 6:05 left.
On the following drive, Blaine found itself with a 4th-and-10 on its own 27-yard line. With the Trojan offense as hot as it was at the time, the Borderites elected to go for it. When Davis dropped back to pass he went over multiple options, in which Meridian had well defended, but he quickly tossed the ball to his outlet receiver, which happened to be Paez, and the senior back sped to a first down.
It allowed the Borderites to run more time off the clock, but they quickly found themselves with another fourth down, which they went for it again. However, this time, Davis’ pass was knocked down by Fyfe, and the Trojans took over at the Blaine 40-yard line with 2:42 left.
A quick completion to Brennan gave Meridian a first down, as the Trojans now had the ball at the 30-yard line going in. The Blaine defense tightened up and forced Meridian into a 4th-and-8 situation. Fyfe eluded a tackler in the backfield, stepped up and threw a deep ball into the end zone, but Davis was there to knock it away and give the ball back to the Borderites with 1:46 left.
Blaine was able to run out the clock, secure the victory and keep its postseason hopes alive.
Blaine 27 Meridian 22 MER 0 7 0 15 - 22 BLA 0 7 7 13 - 27 MER - Valich 1 run (Downey kick) BLA - Villarreal 4 pass from Davis (Villarreal kick) BLA - Davis 1 run (Villarreal kick) BLA - Davis 1 run (Villarreal kick) MER - Brennan 43 pass from Fyfe (Downey run) BLA - Paez 43 run (run failed) MER - Downey 5 run (Downey kick) MER BLA 18-(-4) Rush Att-Yards 49-220 15-25-0 Comp-Att-Int 8-15-0 210 Passing Yards 90 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Downey 6-20, Valich 2-5, Perrin 2-1, Brennan 1-(-8), Alexander 1-(-6), Fyfe 6-(-16). BLA: Paez 34-237, Shipp 3-3, Davis 12-(-20). PASSING - MER: Fyfe 15-25-0-210. BLA: Davis 6-13-0-37, Villarreal 1-1-0-31, Brown 1-1-0-22. RECEIVING - MER: Brennan 4-63, Downey 4-61, Todd 2-42, Hedahl 2-21, Larsen 2-16, Alexander 1-7. BLA: Kerwin 3-12, Bouma 2-53, Paez 1-13, Cox 1-8, Villarreal 1-4.
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