DEMING – In a battle of two Top-10 teams in the 1A classification, Mount Baker beat Meridian 21-13 at Bob Tisdale Field on Friday night.
The Mountaineers looked sharp to start the game, and was able to drive deep into Trojan territory, but incomplete passes on third and fourth down gave the ball to Meridian at the 22-yard line.
The Trojans picked up an early inspirational run by junior quarterback Pierce Brzozowski who picked up 21 yards, with numerous broken tackles. Meridian was starting a 4th-and-3 in the face at its own 46-yard line, but Brzozowski found junior Kasey Brennan over the middle who took the pass, made one tackler miss, and was off to the races. His 54-yard touchdown gave the Trojans an early 7-0 lead.
Both teams would then turn the ball over on downs, but Mount Baker was then able to put together an 82-yard drive that saw multitude of strong runs from seniors Brice Cooper and Kamden Moa, and Cooper ended up scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Enoc Smith punched through the extra point, and they two 1A rivals were tied up at 7-7.
Meridian was able to then get one first down, due to a penalty, but was forced to punt. It looked like the Mountaineers would take full advantage of it, and was able to get a first down inside the 5-yard line, but the Trojan defense was able to make back-to-back stops behind the line of scrimmage, and was able to turn the Mounties over on downs just before halftime.
The Trojans received the second half kickoff, but were turned away just before getting to midfield, and were forced to punt.
Meridian sophomore Jaxson Pfannenstiel nearly intercepted a 3rd-down Mount Baker pass on the following possession, which forced the Mounties to punt the ball back.
The Mountaineers forced another punt after a three-and-out, and was able to turn it into six points after a long drive culminated with a 15-yard touchdown run by Cooper, and Mount Baker had its first lead of the night with two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Trojans were looking at another 4th down play on their side of the field, but decided to go for it, and a pass over the middle to senior tight end Daniel Larsen gave Meridian the first down.
Two more first down receptions by Larsen gave Meridian the ball inside the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Brzozowski ran the ball into the endzone from six yards out. The extra point was blocked by senior defensive tackle Trenton George, which secured the 14-13 lead in favor of the Mounties.
Now in the fourth quarter, Baker was looking to put the game away, but a pass intended for junior tight end Kell Reardon was intercepted by Pfannenstiel, which gave Meridian new life.
The Trojans excitedly drove down the field, but a 4th down pass into the endzone fell incomplete, which shifted the momentum back to the home team.
The Mountaineers took over possession, and went with their patented counter trey run to the right side, which saw Cooper make one cut, spin out of a tackle and explode for 56 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Meridian 20-yard line.
Moa then rumbled for 17 yards, and Cooper punched in his third touchdown of the night on the following play from three yards out. Mount Baker led 21-13 with 4:02 left in the game. Cooper finished with a game-high 172 yards on 21 carries. Moa finished with 15 carries for 112 yards.
Needing to get yards in bunches, the Trojans elected to go to the air, but was sacked on their first play of the drive by Moa. Playing behind the sticks, Meridian was ultimately forced to punt the ball back to Mount Baker.
The Mountaineers were able to pick up the first downs needed to run out the clock and pick up the win.
Perhaps only apparent to those watching pre-game warmups, neither team was able to suit up its starting quarterback. Mount Baker senior Toga Tigilau was out due to an illness, and Meridian junior Trey Alexander was injured.
The Mountaineer defense was led by Reardon who finished with six tackles, two tackles for loss, and two passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Moa and junior defensive tackle Aaron Torres each had 5.5 tackles.
Leading the Trojan defense was senior linebacker Xavier Perrin who finished with 10.5 tackles and a pass deflected. Larsen also had 4.5 tackles and two stops behind the line of scrimmage.
Mount Baker (5-1) will be back at home to face Lynden Christian (6-0) on Friday at 7:00, and Meridian (5-1) will host Nooksack Valley (3-3) on Friday at 7:00.
Mount Baker 21 Meridian 13 MER 7 0 0 6 - 13 MB 0 7 7 7 - 21 MER - Brennan 54 pass from Brzozowski (Virk kick) MB - Cooper 18 run (E. Smith kick) MB - Cooper 15 run (E. Smith kick) MER - Brzozowski 6 run (kick blocked) MB - Cooper 3 run (E. Smith kick) MER MB 27-54 Rush Att-Yards 45-296 14-25-0 Comp-Att-Int 2-8-1 219 Passing Yards 14 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Brzozowski 22-54, Nguyen 3-3, Valich 1-(-1), Brennan 1-(-2). MB: Cooper 21-172, Moa 15-112, G. Smith 4-5, Barksdale 3-4, N. Nicol-Mills 2-3. PASSING - MER: Brzozowski 14-25-0-219. MB: Barksdale 2-8-1-14. RECEIVING - MER: Larsen 8-116, Brennan 2-54, Crabtree 2-19, Valich 1-27, Nguyen 1-3. MB: Ross 2-14.
