BELLINGHAM – After a scoreless first quarter, it was all Mountaineers as they defeated Meridian 41-6 on the road on Friday night.
Senior running back Marcques George kicked off the scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. It came on a straight dive play with junior left tackle Alex Maloley leading the way.
Mount Baker quickly scored again on its next play from scrimmage after forcing a Trojan punt, on a 47-yard run by George who used his speed for the first 42 yards, and his tackle-breaking ability in the last five yards to get over the goal line.
The Mountaineers then scored on their next possession, this time coming on a short swing-pass from senior quarterback Landon Smith to senior running back Wilhem Maloley to the left side. He then broke through three tackles to score the 18-yard touchdown.
Two plays later, junior cornerback Landen Hanstead intercepted a pass on the Meridian sideline, and two plays after that it was George taking a screen pass to the right side from Smith, and he followed senior right guard Drake Pinkey and junior right tackle Jesse Harward for a big chunk of yards before breaking through and scoring from 37 yards out with 1:37 left until halftime.
George broke off two more long touchdown runs in the third quarter, and finished the game with a career-high 267 yards rushing on 17 carries, and he also racked up 304 of his teams’ 329 scrimmage yards.
Meridian senior running back Marcus Castaneda scored on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Mount Baker’s defense held the Trojans to just 122 total yards, and was led by Pinkey who had 6.5 tackles including 2.5 sacks and another tackle for loss. Senior linebacker Brady West had 7.5 tackles and a forced fumble, and senior defensive end Ethan Larson used all of his 6-foot-4 frame to deflect four passes at the line of scrimmage in the first half alone.
The Mountaineers (4-4) will host Lynden Christian (8-0) this Friday, and the Trojans (4-4) will travel to Bellingham to take on the Bayhawks on Friday at Civic Stadium. Both games are scheduled for 7:00.
Mount Baker 41 Meridian 6 MB 0 27 14 0 - 41 MER 0 0 0 6 - 6 MB - George 1 run (run failed) MB - George 47 run (Staton kick) MB - W. Maloley 18 pass from Smith (Staton kick) MB - George 37 pass from Smith (Staton kick) MB - George 48 run (Staton kick) MB - George 33 run (Staton kick) MER - Castaneda 1 run (run failed)
MB MER 33-255 Rush Att-Yards 25-19 4-15-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-32-1 74 Passing Yards 103 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MB: George 17-267, W. Maloley 4-17, La. Smith 5-0, Lu. Smith 2-(-1), B. Moa 1-(-3), Sande 4-(-25). MER: Elmer 7-22, Downey 5-7, Castaneda 2-1, Fyfe 11-(-11). PASSING - MB: La. Smith 4-15-0-74. MER: Fyfe 14-32-1-103. RECEIVING - MB: Hanstead 2-19, George 1-37, W. Maloley 1-18. MER: Jones 5-46, Elmer 4-36, Downey 2-11, Jensen 1-5, Nagra 1-4, Haugen 1-1.
