BELLINGHAM — Meridian’s Trojans went to war on Hoquiam’s secondary Saturday in the first half in a Class 1A football playoff game that was decided by halftime, as the Trojans trounced the Grizzlies, 63-21, at Civic Stadium.
The loss ends the season for Hoquiam with a 6-5 record.
Meridian (11-0) will meanwhile host Montesano in the state quarterfinals next weekend.
After a long road trip that brought them to northern edges of the state, things began going south for the Grizzlies on their first defensive play from scrimmage.
Blown coverage downfield on a pass play that sent Meridian’s T.J.Dkystra downfield where Eastern Washington commit Simon Burkett found him for the 70-yard touchdown pass.
Hoquiam’s defense was a step too slow the next time it took the field as well and gave up another Burkett passing touchdown to put the Grizzlies down by two scores.
Hoquiam head coach Jeremy McMillan said his team had trouble dealing with the passing game in the early going.
“They had some good athletes and they played the ball well,” he said. “We worked on that all week. We knew we were going to be outsized in those positions. They have a good quarterback and their recivers came up big when they needed to.”
Despite allowing three passing touchdowns in the first half, the Hoquim defense did show some fight. Francis Sweeney returned an interception for a touchdown to make the score 28-7 at the time.
Naz Mazariegos and Malakai Eaton also came up with an interception and fumble recovery, respectively.
Unfortunately for Hoquiam, the offense could not find its rhythm, either, with the Trojans getting penetration up front.
Payton Quintanilla was never able to survey the field from a clean pocket and often had to roll out towards the sidelines in search of a receiver who was often not open.
Down 42-7 at the half, the Trojans continued to pour it on. Dante Castaneda ran it in for another touchdown after another three and out from the HHS offense to start the running clock.
Sweeney ended up being one of the few bright spots for the Grizzlies as he returned a second interception for a touchdown on a night when the offense could not find the end zone until the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
McMillan said that Sweeney was one of a handful of players who put on good performances on offense and defense but added that he felt bad for his seniors following the loss.
“There a lot of kids I could name who played well,” he said. “It sucks to see the seniors leave since it’s my last time with them.”
In addition to Sweeney and Quintanilla, McMillan was also complementary of Chewy Muro’s play on the offensive and defensive lines.
With five seconds left, Quintanilla used his athleticism to make something out of nothing and scramble nine yards for Hoquiam’s first and only offensive touchdown of the evening.
The season is over for the Grizzlies but the coaching staff thinks the program has a bright future even with 12 seniors graduating.
In the post-game meeting with his team, McMillan encouraged all of his returning players to work hard in the off season or risk regretting it later.
“I told them to think about the pain of the seniors knowing that its their last game,” he said. “When you don’t want to do the rep, or you don’t want to do the morning workout, or do you don’t want to eat right, think about that. Sooner or later your time is going to come where you’re going to be that senior and you’ll wish you would have, should have and could have.”
