BELLINGHAM – With a little over three minutes left in the game, the Bayhawks had a 21-20 lead and the ball in Trojan territory, but a series of huge plays turned the tide and allowed the hometown Meridian football team to be victorious on Friday night.
With the time ticking away, on 2nd-and-9, Bellingham senior quarterback Josh Leonard dropped back to pass. He threw the ball deep to his left as Meridian senior linebacker Joshtyn Elmer, who had blitzed up the middle, was in the tall left-hander’s face.
Elmer’s blitz caused the ball to be underthrown, and it was intercepted by junior cornerback Jaeger Fyfe who returned it to the Trojan 32-yard line. A blindside block penalty brought the ball back to the 17-yard line. Even though Bellingham had just turned it over, it didn’t look good for the Trojans who hadn’t scored since the first half when they led 20-7.
Fyfe threw two incomplete passes, and on third down his pass to Landen Downey was all for not when the do-everything junior immediately slipped and fell after catching the pass three yards behind the line of scrimmage. It was 4th-and-13, from their own 14-yard line, with less than three minutes left in the game. It didn’t look good for the Trojans who then called a timeout.
With the ball on the right hash, Meridian coach Patrick Ames knew immediately what to call, as he put the game into the hands of his 5-foot-7 120-pound freshman Trey Alexander, who hadn’t played a single snap of offense up to that point. Alexander lined up wide to the left, and when Fyfe took the snap he immediately threw a backward strike to Alexander, who then looked downfield to his 6-foot-6 senior tight end Christian Clawson who was streaking across the middle of the field. Alexander’s pass found Clawson in stride, and the 32-yard hookup kept the Trojans breathing.
After two more incomplete passes, time was running out on the Trojans who were yet to reach midfield. But, on 3rd-and-10, Fyfe was able to avoid the Bayhawk rush by rolling to his right. He spotted another freshman, this time it was 5-foot-6 116-pound receiver Kasey Brennan, who caught the pass and turned up field to pick up the much needed first down.
However, the speedster picked up more than just a first down.
He instantly broke a tackle, and raced down the right side line. He then broke another tackle before being brought down at the Bellingham 11-yard line for a 44-yard gain.
Meridian then fed Elmer the ball three straight times, which gained eight total yards and set up a 4th-and-2 from the 3-yard line with less than 10 seconds to go in the game. Without hesitation, Ames put his field goal unit on the field to try the 20-yard field goal.
Keep in mind, Downey’s two extra point attempts earlier in the contest had been blocked, but when Lincoln Hoefer snapped the ball, and Fyfe put it in place, Downey’s approach was perfect and the kick went through to give Meridian a 23-21 lead with five seconds left on the clock.
Bellingham had one time for one play, but the deep pass was batted down.
Downey and Elmer each had touchdown runs in the first half, and Fyfe also found Clawson for a 23-yard touchdown pass in the first half.
The explosive Bayhawk offense was shown off on their first play from scrimmage when Leonard hooked up with senior wide receiver Wyatt Stephan on a 67-yard touchdown pass.
Down 20-7 to begin the second half, Bellingham turned it on in the third quarter and immediately scored on a 23-yard touchdown run by junior Tyler Frost. The majority of the drive consisted of powerful running plays by Frost and senior Holden Bates.
The Bayhawks then quickly scored again after forcing a turnover on downs, which Bellingham spun into a 2-play drive that resulted in another Frost touchdown run. It was set up by a 60-yard completion from Leonard to Stephan.
Evan Isaly’s third extra point of the game gave Bellingham the freshly minted 21-20 lead, which then led to Meridian’s series of plays in the later stages of the contest.
The Trojans (4-5) will finish up the season on Friday against Cedar Park Christian (5-4) at Juanita High School at 7:00. The Bayhawks (5-4) will end their 2023 campaign by hosting Sultan (6-3) on Friday at 7:00.
Meridian 23 Bellingham 21 BEL 7 0 14 0 - 21 MER 14 6 0 3 - 23 MER - Downey 1 run (kick blocked) BEL - Stephan 67 pass from Leonard (Isaly kick) MER - Clawson 23 pass from Fyfe (Elmer run) MER - Elmer 1 run (kick blocked) BEL - Frost 23 run (Isaly kick) BEL - Frost 4 run (Isaly kick) MER - Downey 20 FG BEL MER 23-162 Rush Att-Yards 38-164 11-20-1 Comp-Att-Int 16-30-0 213 Passing Yards 223 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Bates 16-108, Frost 6-47, Leonard 1-7. MER: Elmer 18-114, Downey 15-65, Fyfe 5-(-15). PASSING - BEL: Leonard 11-20-1-213. MER: Fyfe 14-28-0-183, T. Alexander 1-1-0-32, Elmer 1-1-0-8. RECEIVING - BEL: Tolle 6-35, Stephan 2-127, Hanstead 1-24, VanHofwegen 1-14, Henderson 1-13. MER: Elmer 5-68, Clawson 3-73, Brennan 3-71, Haugen 2-2, Fyfe 1-8, Hedahl 1-4, Downey 1-(-3).
