BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – It’s one thing for a defense not to allow any points. It’s another when the defense doesn’t allow a first down, and hold the opponent to negative yardage. The Meridian Trojan defense did just that on Thursday night as they helped their team take down the South Whidbey Falcons 56-0.
The Falcons received the opening kickoff but punted it away early, foreshadowing what the rest of the game would look like.
Meridian took over possession and just a few plays later senior running back, Landen Downey powered into the end zone from 5 yards away for the first score of the game and a 7-0 lead.
Three and a half minutes later, Trojan senior running back Kelley Gray doubled the Meridian lead, rushing into the end zone from a yard out. Another three minutes later, senior quarterback Jaeger Fyfe tucked the ball under his arm and took off down the sideline for a 28-yard rush to cap off the first quarter scoring.
The Trojans weren’t slowing down in the second quarter.
With South Whidbey collecting more negative yards than positive, the Meridian score continued to climb. Fyfe connected with sophomore wide receiver, Kasey Brennan on a 29-yard touchdown pass early in the quarter before collecting his second rushing touchdown on night a couple minutes later as Fyfe carried the ball in from 25 yards away. Downey added his second rushing touchdown with two minutes and thirty seconds to go in the half, charging into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown.
Just when it looked like the Falcons might have been putting together a decent drive, they were halted by the halftime buzzer, leaving the Trojans out in front 42-0.
Meridian was set to receive the second-half kickoff, and when South Whidbey squibbed the football up the middle it ended up in the hands of junior Xavier Perrin, who found a lane and raced 68 yards into the west end zone, upping the Trojans just mere seconds into the third quarter.
With the running clock in full effect, the third quarter moved quickly but Gray was able to collect one more Meridian touchdown, finding the end zone on a one-yard run with 3:56 to go in the third quarter.
The Trojans would sneak back into the Falcons red zone as the fourth quarter was nearing expiration but they opted to kneel out the remaining minute of the game, finalizing a 56-0 victory.
Meridian (4-1) will begin conference play next week when it hosts Mount Baker (4-0) on Friday at 7:00.
Meridian 56 South Whidbey 0 SW 0 0 0 0 - 0 MER 21 21 14 0 - 56 MER - Downey 5 run (Downey kick) MER - Gray 1 run (Downey kick) MER - Fyfe 28 run (Downey kick) MER - Brennan 29 pass from Fyfe (Downey kick) MER - Fyfe 25 run (Downey kick) MER - Downey 3 run (Downey kick) MER - Perrin 68 kickoff return (Downey kick) MER - Gray 1 run (Downey kick) SW MER 25-(-40) Rush Att-Yards 28-227 1-6-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-22-0 2 Passing Yards 195 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SW: N/A. MER: Fyfe 4-89, Downey 7-62, Gray 6-30, Kammerer 3-19, Driscoll 3-17, Valich 2-11, Perrin 1-6, T. Alexander 2-(-7). PASSING - SW: N/A. MER: Fyfe 8-14-0-118, T. Alexander 6-8-0-77. RECEIVING - SW: N/A. MER: Brennan 3-53, Brzozowski 3-49, Hedahl 3-43, Todd 2-13, Perrin 1-16, Larsen 1-15, J. Alexander 1-6.
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