BLAINE – The Trojans held a slight 21-19 lead early in the fourth quarter, but then went off to score three straight touchdowns in the final period to pull away with a 41-26 win over the Borderites on Friday night at Blaine High School.
After forcing the Borderites to punt on their opening drive, Meridian senior Trey Alexander returned the punt 27 yards, led his team down the field from his quarterback spot and then he promptly finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run on a scramble around the left end.
Another Blaine punt took place on the following drive, but this time it was a 49-yard blast off the foot of junior Connor Brown that stopped rolling at the Trojan 12-yard line. However, Alexander made some magic happen once again as he took off on a QB draw, cut to the right, split two defenders, and he started to gain some big yardage. The play really took off when senior speedster Kasey Brennan sprinted past Alexander to throw a block near the sideline, which sprung Alexander to go the rest of the way for a touchdown.
A penalty on the extra point allowed Meridian to move up a yard and a half, and the Trojans then elected to go for two points. Senior running back Ethan Valich took the quick-hitting handoff and waltzed into the endzone to give Meridian a 15-0 lead just before the first quarter came to a close.
The Borderites quickly answered with back-to-back completions from Brown to junior wide receiver Isaac Bouma that covered 53 yards, which set up a 7-yard touchdown run around the right end by sophomore running back Asher Hagee.
Blaine continued to use its momentum and forced the Trojans to turn the ball over on downs near midfield and the hometown team was back in business.
Brown then hit junior wide receiver Hunter Candanoza over the middle of the field on a diving catch, and the two hooked up again as Candanoza made a one-handed catch in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown, which cut Meridian’s lead to 15-13.
The Trojans were able to extend their small lead just before the half after Alexander used a pump fake to find Brennan down the right sideline, which resulted in a 37-yard gain, and it also set up senior Pierce Brzozowski who was able to score on the following play on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Junior linebacker Matt Campion blocked the extra point to keep it a one-possession game, 21-13.
The majority of the third quarter was played between the 20-yard lines as neither team was able to score, but Blaine was able to threaten late in the third quarter, and eventually scored on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 5-yard strike from Brown to Candanoza. The two-point play was unsuccessful, and Meridian still held the lead, this time at 21-19.
The Trojans marched down the field on the next drive, thanks to pin-point passing from Alexander to a bevy of receivers, and found the end zone again when Alexander rolled to his left and was able to get a defender in pass coverage to come up and make the play. Once the savvy senior quarterback noticed that, he lofted the ball to Brzozowski who was wide open in the front-corner of the end zone.
Two plays into Blaine’s ensuing possession, Meridian senior defensive back Josiah Harris picked off a pass and returned it all the way to the Borderite 13-yard line. A few plays later, Alexander scored on a quarterback sneak to give the Trojans their first two-score lead since the first quarter.
Meridian’s pass rush then came alive on Blaine’s next possession as senior Issac Sipress and sophomore Griffith Ingram each recorded quarterback sacks, with Ingram’s coming on 4th down.
The Trojans were set up with great field position once again after the turnover on downs, and Brzozowski was able to score his third touchdown of the game, this time on a 6-yard run.
The Borderites were able to score on the final drive on a 30-yard pass from Brown to Bouma.
Meridian rushed for over 200 yards and passed for over 200 yards in the game for the second consecutive week. The last time the Trojans were able to accomplish that feat in back-t0-back weeks was in the 2010 1A playoffs against Stevenson and King’s.
Meridian (3-3) will host Sehome (2-4) on Friday at 7:00, and the Borderites (2-4) will travel to Mount Baker (4-2) on Friday to take on the Mountaineers at 7:00.
Meridian 41 Blaine 26 MER 15 6 0 20 - 41 BLA 0 13 0 13 - 26 MER - T. Alexander 8 run (Kulhanek kick) MER - T. Alexander 88 run (Valich run) BLA - Hagee 7 run (Candanoza kick) BLA - Candanoza 18 pass from Brown (pass failed) MER - P. Brzozowski 1 run (kick blocked) BLA - Candanoza 5 pass from Brown (pass failed) MER - P. Brzozowski 6 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick) MER - T. Alexander 1 run (kick failed) MER - P. Brzozowski 6 run (Kulhanek kick) BLA - I. Bouma 30 pass from Brown (Candanoza kick)
MER BLA 30-201 Rush Att-Yards 31-53 20-29-0 Comp-Att-Int 13-26-3 246 Passing Yards 232 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: T. Alexander 15-126, Valich 7-35, Strunk 2-21, P. Brzozowski 5-14, Crabtree 1-5. BLA: Hagee 13-54, Kanagie 2-16, Heer 2-12, Brown 14-(-29). PASSING - MER: T. Alexander 20-29-0-246. BLA: Brown 13-25-2-232, Rose 0-1-1-0. RECEIVING - MER: P. Brzozowski 5-76, Brennan 5-65, Culp 3-25, L. Brzozowski 2-28, Valich 1-18, J. Alexander 1-12, Harris 1-8, Goodin 1-7, Crabtree 1-7. BLA: I. Bouma 8-164, Candanoza 4-59, Bogaards 1-9.
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