BELLINGHAM – The Trojans held a 8-3 advantage early in the third quarter, but too many turnovers doomed Meridian as Chelan bested them 27-8 after scoring the final 24 points of the game on Friday night.
The Trojans punted just once, but turned the ball over six times against the Goats who got on the board with a field goal on the first drive of the game.
It was a stalemate the rest of the first half with both teams possessing the ball multiple times between the 20 yard lines.
Meridian looked sharp to open the third quarter, and scored its only touchdown of the game on a 4th-down play that saw sophomore quarterback Jaeger Fyfe find senior wide receiver Hunter Jones from 13 yards out.
Jones had six receptions for the second week in a row, and sophomore Landen Downey led the team with 55 receiving yards on just three catches.
Junior running back Joshtyn Elmer had 57 of his teams’ 87 rushing yards, and Fyfe passed for 103 yards.
Elmer and Downey both had big games on defense, with Elmer totaling 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a quarterback sack, while Downey had nine tackles and a tackle for loss from his strong safety position.
Senior defensive end Amrit Nagra also starred on defense with seven tackles, three tackles for loss and a quarterback sack, and Jones (who led Whatcom County in interceptions last year) picked off his second pass of the season.
The Trojans (1-1) will be on the road next Friday at 6:00 to take on King’s Way Christian.
Chelan 27 Meridian 8 CHE 3 0 14 10 - 27 MER 0 0 8 0 - 8 CHE - Perez 34 FG MER - Jones 13 pass from Fyfe (Elmer run) CHE - Allen 1 run (2pt good) CHE - G. Gogal 3 run (kick failed) CHE - Perez 23 FG CHE - La. Gogal 13 pass from Wilson (Perez kick) CHE MER 42-191 Rush Att-Yards 21-87 7-14-1 Comp-Att-Int 12-31-4 86 Passing Yards 103 Individual Leaders RUSHING - CHE: N/A. MER: Elmer 8-57, Downey 2-15, Fyfe 6-9, Castaneda 5-6. PASSING - CHE: N/A. MER: Fyfe 12-30-3-103, Jones 0-1-1-0. RECEIVING - CHE: N/A. MER: Jones 6-39, Downey 3-55, Castaneda 2-9, Fyfe 1-0.
