VANCOUVER – After a rough loss last week, the Trojans took it out on King’s Way Christian with a 50-13 victory on Friday night.
Following a safety, junior Joshtyn Elmer took the kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown which gave the Trojans an early 9-0 lead.
The Knights answered back with a long touchdown run, but Meridian sophomore running back Landon Downey punched in a couple of short touchdown runs. The Trojan running game was at peak form the entire night, totaling 453 yards on 57 carries, with four separate players with over 85 yards rushing each.
King’s Way Christian got on the board one more time before halftime, to cut Meridian’s advantage to just nine points, but the Trojans went on to score 28 unanswered points in the second half.
It was handoff after handoff in the second half, with four different players scoring rushing touchdowns. Senior Marcus Castaneda pounded the ball for 112 yards on 17 carries, including a third quarter touchdown.
Sophomore quarterback Jaeger Fyfe got into the end zone as well in the third quarter on a 29-yard touchdown run. He also completed 7-of-10 passes for 83 yards.
Elmer broke off a 74-yard touchdown run to cap the third quarter, and he finished with a game-high 134 yards rushing on just 10 carries. Sophomore Ross Driscoll was also able to score his first varsity touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Meridian secondary played extremely well against the pass-happy Knights. Senior cornerback Eli Jensen led the way with six tackles and four passes broken up. Fyfe had three tackles and three passes broken up and senior safety Hunter Jones intercepted his third pass of the season.
The Trojans (2-1) will host Friday Harbor (2-1) this Friday at 6:00.
Meridian 50 King's Way Christian 13 MER 15 7 21 7 - 50 KWC 7 6 0 0 - 13 MER - Safety MER - Elmer 75 kickoff return (Jensen kick) KWC - 61 yard touchdown run (kick good) MER - Downey 3 run (kick blocked) MER - Downey 2 run (Jensen kick) KWC - 9 yard touchdown run (kick failed) MER - Castaneda 4 run (Jensen kick) MER - Fyfe 29 run (Jensen kick) MER - Elmer 74 run (Jensen kick) MER - Driscoll 1 run (Jensen kick) MER KWC 57-453 Rush Att-Yards 26-223 7-10-1 Comp-Att-Int 9-36-1 83 Passing Yards 77 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Elmer 10-134, Castaneda 17-112, Downey 15-92, Fyfe 8-89, Driscoll 3-18, Gray 3-8, Larsen 1-0. KWC: N/A. PASSING - MER: Fyfe 7-10-1-83. KWC: N/A. RECEIVING - MER: Jones 2-2, Downey 1-30, Jensen 1-24, Haugen 1-13, Elmer 1-7, Nagra 1-7. KWC: N/A.
