BY JEFF WOOD – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – On an unseasonably warm evening at Bob Ames Field in Laurel, it was all Meridian on Friday night. The Trojans ran away from the Sehome Mariners, winning by a score of 51-14.
Sehome started the game with a long kickoff return by senior Nicky Smith into Meridian territory at the 47-yard line. Their first drive was promising, as the Mariners pushed the ball to the Trojan 10-yard line. Meridian’s defense held strong in the red zone, forcing a quarterback scramble on 4th down that came up short of the line to gain.
Sehome’s defense then forced a punt after three plays. Meridian returned the favor and this time, the Trojan offense drove the field in eight plays.
Meridian got into the end zone on a 13-yard reception from senior quarterback Trey Alexander to tight end Jaymasen Alexander. The quarter ended with a 7-0 Trojan lead after Sehome’s quarterback Jad Geiger got intercepted on a tipped pass by Trojan senior defensive lineman Issac Sipress, and sophomore Griffith Ingram came down with the pass.
Meridian quickly pushed the lead to 14-0 on a one-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Jaxson Pfannenstiel, and their defense again held Sehome without a first down. A 40-yard connection from Alexander to senior receiver Pierce Brzozowski kept the Trojan fans cheering. The successful two-point conversion gave Meridian a 22-0 lead.
Things kept going well for the home team as a pooch kick found the wet natural grass and was recovered by sophomore Phoenix Castaneda. Sehome’s defense then was able to get a stop and turnover on downs getting the ball back for its offense at its own 26 yard-line.
The Mariners found some success behind the rushing of sophomore running back Cash Barnes and quarterback scrambles from Geiger.
Senior placekicker Bane Mitchell attempted a 37-yard field goal as Sehome looked to get on the scoreboard. However, it was blocked by Sipress and Meridian took over on offense again.
Alexander connected again with Brzozowski this time on a 20-yard strike for his third passing touchdown of the half. For the second time, a Trojan 2-point rush was successful, and Meridian went into halftime up 30-0.
Meridian picked up where it left off in the third quarter as Alexander hit freshman Knox Goodin on a nifty slant-and-go route that set up a one-yard touchdown run by senior Sawyer Strunk.
A quick stop by the Meridian defense and then it was Alexander who wasted no time finding Jaxon Pfannenstiel over the middle, who raced to a 50-yard touchdown. After the PAT, Meridian led 44-0 and a running clock commenced.
Sehome kept up the fight and a pass tipped by Logan Rogers was intercepted by Eljas Lara who rumbled 16 yards and into the end zone getting the Mariners on the scoreboard.
Meridian’s Blake Manzer ran in a touchdown for the Trojans pushing the lead to 51-7. Sehome finished the scoring on a nice corner route and 29-yard touchdown reception by senior tight end Devon Bengtsson from Geiger.
Meridian played solidly on both sides of the ball as they defended their home natural turf, beating Sehome by a final score of 51-14.
The Trojans (4-3) will host Nooksack Valley (5-2) on Friday at 7:00 and the Mariners (2-5) will be back in conference play on Friday as they will travel to Anacortes (6-1) to take on the Seahawks at 7:00.
Meridian 51 Sehome 14 SEH 0 0 6 8 - 14 MER 7 23 14 7 - 51 MER - J. Alexander 13 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick) MER - Pfannenstiel 1 run (Kulhanek kick) MER - P. Brzozowski 40 pass from T. Alexander (Pfannenstiel run) MER - P. Brzozowski 20 pass from T. Alexander (Strunk run) MER - Strunk 1 run (Kulhanek kick) MER - Pfannenstiel 50 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick) SEH - Lara 16 interception return (kick failed) MER - Manzer 12 run (Kulhanek kick) SEH - Bengtsson 29 pass from Geiger (Barnes run) SEH MER 20-123 Rush Att-Yards 17-104 11-24-1 Comp-Att-Int 16-25-1 167 Passing Yards 309 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SEH: Geiger 8-65, Barnes 12-58. MER: Manzer 5-30, P. Brzozowski 1-30, T. Alexander 3-25, Valich 3-13, V. Bernardy 2-3, Strunk 1-1, J. Alexander 1-1, Pfannenstiel 1-1. PASSING - SEH: Geiger 11-24-1-167. MER: T. Alexander 14-22-0-296, P. Brzozowski 1-2-1-5, Hersom 1-1-0-8. RECEIVING - SEH: Smith 4-73, Bengtsson 3-43, Anderson 2-31, Laplant 2-20. MER: P. Brzozowski 4-88, Goodin 4-65, J. Alexander 2-44, L. Brzozowski 2-23, Pfannenstiel 1-50, Brennan 1-30, Koning 1-8, Strunk 1-1.
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