VANCOUVER – Eager to play after getting a forfeit win last week, the Trojans ripped off 35 points in the first half and never looked back as they defeated King’s Way Christian 49-7 on Friday night.
Meridian got on the board first after senior Xavier Perrin crossed the goal line from two yards out in the first quarter, and it was followed up by an 80-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Trey Alexander to sophomore wide receiver River Todd.
The Knights scored their lone touchdown of the game late in the first quarter, which cut the lead to seven points, but the Trojans scored five unanswered touchdowns going forward.
Junior Sawyer Strunk took his only carry of the game four yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Meridian elected to go to the air later in the first half as Alexander found junior wide receiver Kasey Brennan on a 56-yard touchdown pass, and senior tight end Daniel Larsen on a 32-yard scoring toss.
The Trojans were also able to get their run game going for the first time this season, and they picked up 175 yards on the ground, by far the most they have had this season. The leading ground gainer was freshman running back Blake Manzer who toted the ball 10 times for 40 yards.
Junior Pierce Brzozowski filled in at quarterback after Alexander was forced to leave the game due to an injury, and he scored on a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and junior Ryan Nguyen scored on a 7-yard touchdown run up the middle.
Alexander finished the game with 304 yards on 15-of-20 passing.
Brzozowski also intercepted two passes on defense, which gives him a Whatcom County-leading four on the season.
Also leading the way on defense for Meridian was Larsen who had two stops behind the line of scrimmage as well as a pass defended. Perrin had a team-high 5.5 tackles, and a sack, and junior defensive tackle Landon Rowley made a play early in the game behind the line of scrimmage where he forced a fumble and recovered it.
The Trojans (5-0) will begin conference play on Friday when they travel to Mount Baker (4-1) on Friday to take on the Mountaineers at 7:00.
Meridian 49 King's Way Christian 7 MER 14 21 0 14 - 49 KWC 7 0 0 0 - 7 MER - Perrin 2 run (Virk kick) MER - Todd 80 pass from Alexander (Virk kick) KWC - 11 yard touchdown pass (kick good) MER - Strunk 4 run (Virk kick) MER - Brennan 56 pass from Alexander (Virk kick) MER - Larsen 32 pass from Alexander (Virk kick) MER - Brzozowski 12 run (Virk kick) MER - Nguyen 7 run (Virk kick) MER KWC 40-175 Rush Att-Yards 21-85 15-21-2 Comp-Att-Int 7-23-3 304 Passing Yards 119 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Manzer 10-40, T. Alexander 8-36, Nguyen 7-35, Pfannenstiel 7-30, Brzozowski 3-18, Perrin 4-12, Strunk 1-4. KWC: N/A. PASSING - MER: T. Alexander 15-20-2-304, Brzozowski 0-1-0-0. KWC: N/A. RECEIVING - MER: Brzozowski 5-42, Brennan 3-109, Todd 3-96, Fisher 2-18, Larsen 1-32, Crabtree 1-7. KWC: N/A.
