SULTAN – Leading up to last season, which was played just seven months ago, Trojan quarterback Tucker Harrison had to talk his buddy, and fellow classmate, Bryce Johnson into playing. The season only last two games, but Johnson had a fun time and came back out for his senior season.
Although he will likely be continuing his athletic career after high school as a baseball player, Johnson’s final football game will be one that he’ll never forget. He caught seven passes for 149 yards and four touchdowns as he helped Meridian defeat Sultan 51-10 on Friday night.
It was just the second time in school history that a player has caught four touchdown passes in a single game, with the other being Bryce Vandenhaak in 2017 against Lynden Christian.
Junior running back Taye Binta got the Trojans on the board first with a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and that was followed up by the Trojan double-pass trick play that saw freshman Jaeger Fyfe complete a touchdown pass to Johnson.
Harrison and Johnson connected for three touchdown passes in the second quarter, and sophomore running back Joshtyn Elmer darted into the end zone from 15 yards out to make it 37-3 at half time.
Harrison finished the game completing 16-of-27 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns.
The Turks scored their only touchdown of the game in the third quarter, and Meridian junior running back Hunter Jones scored from a yard out in the fourth. The Trojans scored their final touchdown of the season when senior Josh Groen blocked a punt, and it was returned nine yards for a score by junior Armit Nagra.
Jones also led the attack defensively with 8.5 tackles, a pass broken up and a tackle for loss. He also intercepted two passes, which gives him the Whatcom County lead at five on the season. Binta, Elmer and senior defensive end Isaac Iredale all each had multiple stop behind the line of scrimmage.
Meridian finished its season with a 5-4 record.
Meridian 51 Sultan 10 MER 13 24 0 14 - 51 SUL 0 3 7 0 - 10 MER - Binta 4 run (Jensen kick) MER - Johnson 13 pass from Fyfe (kick blocked) MER - Johnson 82 pass from Harrison (bad snap) MER - Johnson 33 pass from Harrison (run failed) SUL - 25 yard field goal MER - Elmer 15 run (kick blocked) MER - Johnson 3 pass from Harrison (bad snap) SUL - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) MER - Jones 1 run (Jensen kick) MER - Nagra 9 blocked punt return (Jensen kick)
MER SUL 23-92 Rush Att-Yards 33-102 18-29-0 Comp-Att-Int 7-23-2 330 Passing Yards 79 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Elmer 7-35, Castaneda 3-31, Jones 3-16, Binta 2-5, Fyfe 2-4, Harrison 6-1. SUL: N/A. PASSING - MER: Harrison 16-27-0-287, Fyfe 2-2-0-43. SUL: N/A. RECEIVING - MER: Johnson 7-149, Jones 4-78, Jensen 3-49, Short 2-16, Harrison 1-30, A. Todd 1-8. SUL: N/A.
