OMAK – On the road once again, Meridian started out hot, and withstood a comeback from the Pioneers as the Trojans defeated Omak 22-14 on Friday night at Omak High School.
It was all Meridian early, as the passing attack was on target once again. Junior quarterback Trey Alexander completed touchdowns to three different receivers last week, and he connected on two more receivers against the Pioneers as he hit junior Kasey Brennan, who had come in motion from right to left, on a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Alexander then followed that up by connecting a pass over the middle to junior wide receiver Trevyn Crabtree for a 37-yard touchdown on 4th-and-13, and the Trojans were up 14-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Meridian was unable to move the chains on a 4th-down pass play, but misfortune quickly turned into good fortune as the run-heavy Pioneers went to the air in Trojan territory, and Brennan quickly recognized the play, broke on the ball, intercepted it, and took it 72 yards for a touchdown. It was the first pick-six that Meridian has had since Landen Downey had one in 2022.
Things were looking pretty good for the Trojans, who led 20-0 at halftime, on the road against a team that was in the 1A state playoffs last year. It got even better when a mishandled snap by the punter, and strong rush by senior Daniel Larsen, caused a safety halfway through the third quarter and gave Meridian a 22-0 lead.
Omak stuck to its ground game, and finally got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard touchdown run.
A late interception gave the Pioneers a flicker of hope, and they went down the field and scored again, but it was too little, too late, for Omak who had controlled the time of possession throughout the game, and actually outgained the Trojans by 130 yards.
Meridian was led defensively by senior linebacker Xavier Perrin who posted a career-high 18.5 tackles, including a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Junior linebacker Ethan Valich chipped in with 12 tackles and a tackle for loss, while Brennan had a pair of interceptions in the second quarter.
The Trojans (2-0) will host 4A Kamiak (0-1) on Friday night at 7:00.
Meridian 22 Omak 14 MER 14 6 2 0 - 22 OM 0 0 0 14 - 14 MER - Brennan 4 pass from T. Alexander (Virk kick) MER - Crabtree 37 pass from T. Alexander (Virk kick) MER - Brennan 72 interception return (kick blocked) MER - Safety OM - 30 yard touchdown run (2pt good) OM - 1 yard touchdown run (run failed) MER OM 21-72 Rush Att-Yards 59-289 12-28-2 Comp-Att-Int 8-17-3 140 Passing Yards 53 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: T. Alexander 6-35, Valich 8-24, Strunk 4-10, Perrin 2-2, Brennan 1-1. OM: N/A. PASSING - MER: T. Alexander 12-28-2-140. OM: N/A. RECEIVING - MER: Brennan 4-26, Crabtree 2-52, Todd 2-20, Culp 2-17, Larsen 1-19, J. Alexander 1-6. OM: N/A.
