WENATCHEE – Meridian senior Landen Downey made his presence known in all three phases of the game, and when he intercepted a pass in the final minute of the game it secured a 28-21 victory for the Trojans over Deer Park at the Apple Bowl.
On the first drive of the game Downey recovered a fumble, which set Meridian up to score its first touchdown of the game , a 4-yard run by senior Kelley Gray.
The Stags struck back quickly on two big plays, including a 27-yard touchdown run to tie the game up at 7-7 in the first quarter.
Both teams traded possessions in the second quarter, and the Trojan offense got a spark when they executed a double-pass to perfection with sophomore wide receiver Trey Alexander catching a lateral from senior quarterback Jaeger Fyfe, and Alexander then found senior tight end Jameson Hedahl for a 35-yard gain down to the 1-yard line.
Downey then scored his first touchdown of the game on the next play, with five seconds remaining until halftime.
Deer Park evened the game up in the third quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass, and the Stags were driving again late in the quarter, but an interception near midfield by Xavier Perrin gave the Trojans a boost as the junior linebacker returned the ball into Stag territory.
Moments later, just after the fourth quarter began, Downey scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run.
Deer Park put together a long drive to tie the game for the third time, and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 7:42 left in the game, but the Trojans had one great drive left in them.
Meridian put together a 14-play drive that took up 75 yards, and nearly all of the time that was left on the clock, which culminated in Downey’s third touchdown of the game, this time a 5-yarder which ended up being the game winner.
Deer Park’s final effort was crushed immediately with the aforementioned interception by Downey that led to a kneel down and the final buzzer.
Downey finished with a team-high 103 yards rushing on 17 carries, had two tackles for loss and also made all four of his extra point attempts. Gray led the team with 6.5 tackles.
The Trojans (1-0) will host Omak (0-1) on Friday at 6:00.
Meridian 28 Deer Park 21 MER 7 7 0 14 - 28 DP 7 0 7 7 - 21 MER - Gray 4 run (Downey kick) DP - 27 yard touchdown run (kick good) MER - Downey 1 run (Downey kick) DP - 10 yard touchdown pass (kick good) MER - Downey 2 run (Downey kick) DP - 3 yard touchdown run (kick good) MER - Downey 5 run (Downey kick) MER DP 47-212 Rush Att-Yards 20-127 15-26-0 Comp-Att-Int 13-19-2 212 Passing Yards 207 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Downey 17-103, Gray 17-84, Fyfe 11-21, Todd 1-3, Brennan 1-1. DP: N/A. PASSING - MER: Fyfe 14-25-0-177, Alexander 1-1-0-35. DP: N/A. RECEIVING - MER: Alexander 4-72, Larsen 3-11, Hedahl 2-53, Brennan 2-39, Downey 2-15, Gray 1-12, Todd 1-10. DP: N/A.
