Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

PREP FOOTBALL: Sophomore running back sparks Meridian to playoff victory over Coupeville

COUPEVILLE - John Murphy's first postseason game with the Meridian football team was certainly a memorable one.

The sophomore running back rushed for three touchdowns and 196 yards to help the Trojans past Coupeville 32-7 on Thursday, Nov. 5 in a Class 1A Northwest District playoff game at Coupeville. Murphy scored on runs of 47, 21, and 66 yards, with the final dash icing a convincing win for Meridian on a soggy, windy night.

"I have to give all of the credit to my offense line because they do everything," Murphy said. "It all starts with them and they did a great job. For a sophomore for me this was amazing. For the whole team winning this game in the postseason is a great experience."

The win sends Meridian (7-3) onto a Tri-District playoff game on Tuesday, Nov. 10 against an opponent yet to be determined. Orting, Vashon Island, and Port Townsend meet on Saturday, Nov. 7 in a mini-playoff with the winner taking the West Central District No. 2 seed and hosting the Trojans on Tuesday. The winner of that contest takes a No. 3 seed into the state tournament.

"We have a short turnaround and a lot of kids are sick and getting beat up," Meridian coach Bob Ames said. "It's going to be tough."

While Ames isn't so sure about how Meridian will fare in its next game, the Trojans made things look pretty easy in the first half against Coupeville. Zach Slesk gave Meridian a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter when he faked an inside hand-off and broke outside for an 80-yard touchdown run.

Murphy helped the Trojans to a 13-0 lead four minutes later with the first of his three scores, this one coming on a 47-yard run. Meridian used some trickery to take a 19-0 lead with two minutes left in the half, when Tait Slesk found Zach Slask open for a 19-yard touchdown on a double-pass. The quick assault left the Wolves reeling.

"The first half was really exciting," Murphy said.

The Trojans' thrilling first half lost some of its luster early in the third quarter when Zach Slesk was injured while being tackled out of bounds. He fell hard on the long jump runway along the sideline and didn't return. He spent of the rest of the night in a sling.

"We know it's a shoulder injury but that's about all we know," Ames said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Coupeville pulled within 19-7 when Chase Griffin hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass, but the Wolves wouldn't get any closer. Meridian's defense intercepted four passes on the night and did a good job forcing Coupeville into long yardage situations.

Murphy popped his second touchdown run with 19 seconds to play in the third to make it 25-7, and then busted off his long 66-yard scamper with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Meridian managed nearly 500 yards of total offense.

"It's going to be a good bus ride home," Murphy said.

Meridian 0 19 6 7- 32

Coupeville 0 0 7 0- 7

Second Quarter

Mer - Zach Slesk 80 run (Carlos Alvarez kick)

Mer - John Murphy 47 run (Kick blocked)

Mer - Zach Slesk 19 pass from Tait Slesk (run fail)

Third Quarter

Coup - Chase Griffin 16 pass from Jason Bagby (Justin Adams kick)

Mer - John Murphy 21 run (pass fail)

Fourth Quarter

Mer - John Murphy 66 run (Carlos Alvarez kick)

Mer Coup

First downs 19 14

Rushing Att-Yards 34-372 31-97

Comp-Att-Int 12-22-0 17-32-4

Passing yards 124 134

Penalties-yards 3-20 1-5

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Individual leaders

RUSHING - Meridian: zach Slesk 12-140, John Murphy 12-196, Bo Norris 4-4, Tait Slesk 3-8, Brandon Santamarina 3-24; Coupeville: Justin Adams 19-57, Chase Griffin 4-26, Jason Bagby 8-14.

PASSING - Meridian: Zack Slesk 8-13-0-75, Tait Slesk 4-9-0-49. Coupeville: Jason Bagby 17-32-4-134.

RECEIVING - Meridian: Mitchell Tripp 4-38, Tait Slesk 1-16, Kody Carlson 1-9, Ryan Clark 3-26, Zach Slesk 1-19, Travis Ableman 2-16. Coupeville: Chad Brookhouse 2-20, Dalton Engle 1-6, Ian Smith 5-54, Chase Griffin 7-46, Justin Adams 1-3, Mitch Pelroy 1-5.