BELLINGHAM – The Trojans quickly regrouped from last week’s conference lost, focused on the task at hand and was able to double up the Borderites 36-18 at home on Friday night.
Blaine started off hot, and was able to move the ball both on the ground and through the air, and eventually found the end zone first when senior quarterback Kael Evinger found junior wide receiver Riley Ihde with a perfect strike on a quick-slant towards the goal line from nine yards out. The extra point was pushed to the right, and the Borderites held an early 6-0 advantage.
Meridian answered back quickly two plays later when sophomore quarterback Jaeger Fyfe called his own number on a read-option which he ready perfectly. He faked the handoff to senior running Marcus Castaneda, who was nearly getting tackled by multiple Borderites, and he kept it himself and raced 56 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.
Eli Jensen’s extra point gave Meridian a one-point lead.
After forcing a punt, the Trojans were on the march once again and then scored on a 5-yard lead play by sophomore running back Landen Downey. The hole was opened up by senior guard Wyatt Duling and sophomore tackle Lincoln Hoefer, and Downey was able to score with relative ease to give Meridian the 14-6 advantage going into half time.
Meridian took it’s first drive of the third quarter 90 yards on 13 plays, which ended on a 21-yard touchdown run through the line of scrimmage by Castaneda to give the Trojans a 21-6 lead.
Blaine junior Justin Minjarez took the ensuing kickoff past midfield, which enabled the Borderites to drive down the field and score their second touchdown of the game, this time on a 15-yard pass from Evinger to junior wide out Hunter Vezzetti.
The Trojans countered on a beautifully mastered play-action pass in which Fyfe spotted senior tight end Amrit Nagra over the top of the defense, and Fyfe landed the ball into the Homecoming King’s hands from 20 yards out.
Meridian scored its final touchdown in the fourth quarter in a unique play that wrapped up the notion that the ball was just bouncing the way of the Trojans. Blaine sophomore linebacker Blake Koreski forced a fumble, and the ball bounced up to senior wide receiver Hunter Jones, who then made some moves of his own before dancing into the end zone.
Jensen, who had been perfect on the evening on his previous four extra points, scooped up the mishandled snap on his fifth attempt, and sprinted towards the corner of the end zone to score his first two-point conversion.
Blaine got on the board one last time late in the contest, after Minjarez came on a corner blitz on fourth down, and strip-sacked Fyfe. Junior defensive tackle Victor Gervol recovered the ball to give the Borderites great field position. Three plays later Evinger rolled to his left and hit junior tight end Conner Dalry for a 33-yard touchdown.
The Trojans (4-2) will travel to Lynden Christian (6-0) on to take on the Lyncs, and the Borderites (0-6) will also go on the road to take on Bellingham (2-4) at Civic Stadium. Both games are this Friday at 7:00.
Meridian 36 Blaine 18 BLA 6 0 6 6 - 18 MER 7 7 14 8 - 36 BLA - Ihde 9 pass from Evinger (kick failed) MER - Fyfe 56 run (Jensen kick) MER - Downey 5 run (Jensen kick) MER - Castaneda 21 run (Jensen kick) BLA - Vezzetti 15 pass from Evinger (pass failed) MER - Nagra 20 pass from Fyfe (Jensen kick) MER - Jones 5 run (Jensen run) BLA - Dalry 33 pass from Evinger (pass failed) BLA MER 18-49 Rush Att-Yards 50-283 15-26-0 Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 196 Passing Yards 55 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BLA: Shipp 14-41, Evinger 4-8. MER: Elmer 15-107, Downey 13-66, Fyfe 9-48, Castaneda 10-47, Driscoll 1-6, Jones 1-5, Gray 1-4. PASSING - BLA: Evinger 15-26-0-196. MER: Fyfe 5-11-0-55. RECEIVING - BLA: Ihde 5-49, Vezzetti 4-62, Dalry 3-60, Deming 2-15, Shipp 1-10. MER: Jones 1-26, Nagra 1-20, Downey 1-9, Castaneda 1-3, Elmer 1-(-3).
