DEMING – The running game was on all evening as the Mountaineers steam rolled past Meridian 54-22 at Bob Tisdale Field on Friday night.
Junior Marcques George sprung two long touchdown runs in the first quarter, and finished with a game-high 186 yards on 16 carries. Senior Jesse Sande also eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the ninth time in his career, while also scoring four touchdowns on the ground as Mount Baker piled up 376 total yards rushing.
In an exact contrast, it was the air attack the led the Trojans, but Tucker Harrison’s 302 passing yards weren’t enough. The senior quarterback completed two touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Daniel Short.
Short finished with nine catches, and he also became the third player in school history to have over 200 yards receiving in a single game. Mitchell Tripp and Bryce Vandenhaak were the other two.
Harrison also led the Trojans defensively with 14.5 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, but the Mountie rushing attack was still able to manage over nine yards per carry behind the powerful blocking of Joel Robles, Drake Pinkey, Jordon Hughes, Vance Lawrence, Thayer Brown, Jesse Harward and tight end Alex Maloley.
Maloley also had a huge game from his defensive end position as he recorded six tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and a tackle for loss. The Mountie pass rush registered 10 sacks on the evening.
With the win, the Mountaineers (5-3) will be idle this week and they will wait to see what seed they receive for the 1A state tournament, while Meridian (4-4) will close out its season on Thursday at Lynden Christian (5-2).
Meridian 22 Mount Baker 54 MER 7 7 2 6 - 22 MB 13 22 6 13 - 54 MB - George 17 run (Robles kick) MB - George 44 run (kick failed) MER - Short 38 pass from Harrison (Jensen kick) MB - Sande 14 run (Robles kick) MB - Sande 3 run (Robles kick) MER - Johnson 28 pass from Fyfe (Jensen kick) MB - Sande 9 run (Beason run) MB - Sande 9 run (kick failed) MER - Safety, Sande downed in the end zone MB - West 15 run (kick failed) MER - Short 33 pass from Harrison (run failed) MB - Beason 43 kickoff return (Robles kick)
MER MB 20-(-30) Rush Att-Yards 40-376 23-41-0 Comp-Att-Int 1-4-0 332 Passing Yards 10 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Elmer 5-6, Jones 2-0, Fyfe 1-(-5), Harrison 12-(-31). MB: George 16-186, Sande 15-109, West 3-52, Beason 6-29. PASSING - MER: Harrison 22-40-0-304, Fyfe 1-1-0-28. MB: Beason 1-3-0-10, Sande 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING - MER: Short 9-208, Elmer 5-38, Johnson 3-43, Jensen 2-30, Fyfe 2-7, Jones 2-6. MB: A. Maloley 1-10.
