SEATTLE – With a state berth on the line, Meridian got offensive against King’s and defeated the North Sound League Champions 71-30 on Saturday night.
Senior Cameron Webster wasn’t ready for his varsity career to come to an abrupt halt, and he had the best overall game of his career. He ran for 287 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries, completed 7-of-13 passes for 189 yards and two scores, had six solo tackles, knocked down a pass and intercepted three more (not including an interception on a conversion attempt).
As a team, the Trojans established a new school record by cranking out 689 yards of total offense. The previous record was 669 yards which was put up by the 1999 state championship team at Sultan.
The 71 points scored wasn’t a school record, but it was the most put up by Meridian since 2002 when the Trojans put up 77 against North Surrey, BC.
Junior running back Ethan Silves scored the first two touchdowns of the game, and senior running back Trent Martin scored the first touchdown of the second quarter. Martin finished with 99 yards rushing and 58 yards receiving.
After the Knights scored on a deep pass, Meridian countered with Webster’s first long touchdown run of the game, followed up by a 71-yard touchdown run by senior wide receiver Ryan Johnson on a fly sweep.
The Trojans scored again in the second quarter on a 63-yard touchdown pass down the seam to senior tight end Trent Gookstetter, and junior kicker Zack Loya booted a 23-yard field goal before the half.
King’s kicked three onside kicks in the third quarter, and they were all recovered by Meridian. Webster ran three QB-power plays, and scored on all three of them before hitting a junior wide receiver Wesley Kurz on a 22-yard touchdown pass.
The win gave the Trojans (4-7) a berth in the 1A state tournament where it will play at Montesano in the first round. Date and time is still TBD.
Meridian 71
King’s 30
MER 14 31 19 7 – 71
KI 3 7 20 0 – 30
MER – Silves 8 run (Loya kick)
KI – 35 yard field goal
MER – Silves 3 run (Loya kick)
MER – Martin 18 run (Loya kick)
KI – 65 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
MER – Webster 68 run (Loya kick)
MER – Johnson 71 run (Loya kick)
MER – Gookstetter 63 pass from Webster (Loya kick)
MER – Loya 23 FG
KI – 30 yard touchdown pass (run failed)
KI – 6 yard touchdown pass (2pt good)
MER – Webster 54 run (kick blocked)
MER – Webster 62 run (Loya kick)
KI – 29 yard touchdown pass (pass failed)
MER – Webster 50 run (kick failed)
MER – Kurz 22 pass from Webster (Loya kick)
MER KI
31-491 Rushing Att-Yards 18-9
7-13-0 Comp-Att-Int 26-45-2
198 Passing yards 386
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – MER: Webster 12-287, Martin 11-99, Johnson 1-71, Silves 7-34. KI: N/A.
PASSING – MER: Webster 7-13-0-198. KI: N/A.
RECEIVING – MER: Kurz 2-61, Martin 2-58, Silves 2-16, Gookstetter 1-63. KI: N/A.
Go Trojans!