BELLINGHAM – It had been 41 years since a Meridian sophomore rushed for over 160 yards in a game (Duffy Cox ran for 209 yards on October 17, 1980 against Mount Baker), but when sophomore Joshtyn Elmer filled in for junior Hunter Jones, who was attending a family wedding, the 5-foot-6 146-pounder racked up 169 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans bested Bellingham 26-14 at Meridian High School on Friday night.
The Bayhawks jumped off to a great start when senior free safety Alex Breeding intercepted a pass on the third play from scrimmage. Bellingham then finished off the drive when junior quarterback Max Rasset waltzed into the end zone from two yards out.
The Trojans answered back later in the first quarter when senior quarterback Tucker Harrison found senior tight end Bryce Johnson in the back left corner of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown.
“I just focused on catching the ball,” Johnson said. “I thought for sure I was out of bounds, but I was able to get both my feet in when I landed.”
Elmer sprung a 23-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Meridian focused on the run game after getting the lead.
Both Elmer and Harrison scored short rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to put a little more distance between them and Bellingham. Bayhawk senior tight end Daniel Reyes caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, but that would be the last scoring play of the game.
Trojan senior defensive lineman Josh Groen picked up another 2.5 sacks which brings his Whatcom County lead to 9.5 sacks on the season, and freshman safety Jaeger Fyfe intercepted a pair of passes.
Bellingham junior slot receiver Lucas Cousens had a big game, catching three passes for 104 yards, and senior linebacker Finn O’Malley was all over the field on defense, registering 15 tackles, including three tackles for a loss and a pass broken up.
Meridian (3-1) will begin conference play on Friday by hosting Nooksack Valley (2-2), and the Bayhawks (1-3) are hosting Anacortes (3-1) this Friday night at 8:00 at Civic Stadium.
Bellingham 14 Meridian 26 BEL 7 0 0 7 - 14 MER 7 7 12 0 - 26 BEL - Rasset 2 run (Poulton-Claypool kick) MER - Johnson 8 pass from Harrison (Jensen kick) MER - Elmer 23 run (Jensen kick) MER - Elmer 2 run (kick blocked) MER - Harrison 5 run (run failed) BEL - Reyes 6 pass from Rasset (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL MER 17-36 Rush Att-Yards 48-222 10-31-2 Comp-Att-Int 10-23-2 170 Passing Yards 185 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Breeding 7-69, Twedt 1-9, O'Malley 2-0, Rasset 7-(-42). MER: Elmer 21-169, Binta 16-26, Harrison 10-25, Castaneda 1-2. PASSING - BEL: Rasset 10-31-2-170. MER: Harrison 10-23-2-185. RECEIVING - BEL: Cousens 3-104, Quinlan 3-41, Reyes 3-28, Twedt 1-(-3). MER: Short 4-31, Johnson 3-76, Fyfe 2-69, Binta 1-9.
