SEDRO-WOOLLEY – The Trojans broke away from a 14-14 tie in the third quarter to take the 1A crossover win against Granite Falls 35-21 on Friday night at Tom Mullen Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers had a strong drive to open the game, and got as far as the Meridian 10-yard line, but on third down senior linebacker Pierce Brzozowski intercepted a pass to give the Trojans their first possession of the game. Little did Pierce know, that was just the beginning of his enormous night.
On the very next play, senior quarterback Trey Alexander threw a quick screen out to Brzozowski who took it 80 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
Alexander then scored a touchdown midway through the second quarter, and the Tigers turned around and scored through the air on the following drive to make it a 14-7 game.
Meridian nearly scored again at the end of the first half after Alexander hit senior wide receiver Kasey Brennan on a 42-yard pass which brought the Trojans to the 10-yard line. Meridian had time to run just two plays, and neither was able to score points as the Trojans went into halftime still up 14-7.
Granite Falls went on to score on its first drive of the second half on a powerful run up the middle which covered 23 yards, and the extra point tied the contest at 14-14, but that seemed to only light a fire under the Trojan offense who went on to score two touchdowns in the third quarter, both of which were passes from Alexander to Brzozowski.
Meridian also scored the first touchdown of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run by senior Ethan Valich, who also stood out on defense with 7.5 tackles.
The Tigers scored a late touchdown, and threatened to score another one in the final minute but Brzozowski intercepted his second pass of the game and returned it 94 yards before being brought down at the 3-yard line.
The senior captain finished with eight receptions for 184 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with his 8.5 tackles, two interceptions, one tackle for loss and one pass defended.
Meridian (6-4) will await its seeding and opponent, but will be playing in its first 1A state tournament football game since 2019.
Meridian 35
Granite Falls 21
GF 0 7 7 7 - 21
MER 7 7 14 7 - 35
MER - P. Brzozowski 80 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick)
MER - T. Alexander 2 run (Kulhanek kick)
GF - 16 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
GF - 23 yard touchdown run (kick good)
MER - P. Brzozowski 20 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick)
MER - P. Brzozowski 16 pass from T. Alexander (Kulhanek kick)
MER - Valich 2 run (Kulhanek kick)
GF - 18 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
GF MER
32-139 Rush Att-Yards 28-112
11-21-3 Comp-Att-Int 18-33-0
217 Passing Yards 313
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - GF: N/A. MER: Valich 12-43, T. Alexander 11-43, Manzer 4-21, Brennan 1-5.
PASSING - GF: N/A. MER: T. Alexander 18-33-0-313.
RECEIVING - GF: N/A. MER: P. Brzozowski 8-184, Brennan 4-88, Goodin 2-23, Crabtree 1-6, J. Alexander 1-6, Valich 1-4, Culp 1-2.
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