Meridian rally comes up short in wild state playoff loss to Hoquiam

The idea of Meridian earning a Class 1A State Playoff quarterfinal spot seemed inconceivable trailing by four scores early in the second quarter.

Hoquiam quarterback Gregory Dick was picking apart the Trojans’ secondary, and Meridian couldn’t get out of its own way with three center-quarterback, snap-exchange fumbles and several failed fourth-down conversions.

But a Simon Burkett to Andrew Logan 7-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half offered Meridian a sliver of hope, and the Trojans rode that momentum during a wild second half.

The Trojans pushed the undefeated Grizzlies to the brink, nearly erasing a 25-point deficit, but trailing by five points with less than a minute to go at Hoquiam’s 24, Burkett’s pass to Marcus McGuinn was intercepted in the end zone, sealing a 25-20 1A State Playoff opening-round Meridian loss Saturday, Nov. 14, at a rain-soaked Stewart Field in Aberdeen.

The loss ended the season for Meridian (6-5) in bitter heartbreak.

“That’s football,” said Meridian coach Bob Ames of the Trojans’ missed first-half opportunities. “I’m sure they (Hoquiam) are going, ‘Gosh, it shouldn’t have been that close.’ Effort is the thing that our kids can control, and that was very evident tonight.”

Meridian running back Nick Dritsas finished with 134 rushing yards on 29 carries and caught five passes for 54 yards, and Burkett completed 14 of 26 passes for 157 yards, two touchdown and an interception. Andrew Logan recorded a team-high 69 receiving yards on five receptions.

Hoquiam raced out to a 25-0 lead thanks to Dick, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 258 yards and threw three touchdowns during the first half.

A safety, 52-yard TD pass on a third-and-long and a field goal put Hoquiam ahead 12-0 right before the end of the first, but a Meridian fumble deep in Hoquiam territory was followed by a 72-yard TD pass on the ensuing play to give the Grizzlies an 18-0 edge.

A Meridian failed fourth-down conversion then led to another Grizzlies touchdown to give Hoquiam a 25-0 advantage with 8:50 left in the second.

But the Trojans had their chances. Perhaps Meridian’s most critical error came on a first-and-goal on Hoquiam’s 2 when a botched snap resulted in one of Meridian’s three turnovers.

But even with everything going wrong for Meridian during the first half, Logan’s touchdown reception as time expired gave hope.

“It was awesome for us,” Ames said. “It made a game in our kids’ mind that we could win. You play for opportunities, and we had our opportunity.”

Meridian stifled Hoquiam’s offense throughout the second half with constant pressure on Dick. Meanwhile, the Trojans’ offense got rolling.

Burkett connected with Daniel Young in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard TD, cutting Hoquiam’s lead to 25-14 with 1:21 left in the third.

Meridian followed with a 14-play, 64-yard scoring drive capped by a Tony Schliemer 2-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit to 25-20 with 5:40 left in the fourth.

Following a Hoquiam punt, Meridian owned the game’s momentum and appeared poised to pull off a tremendous comeback.

Burkett navigated the Trojans’ offense from their own 17 with 3:51 to play all the way down to the Grizzlies’ 19, but on a second-and-15, McGuinn couldn’t come down with pass in heavy traffic.

The ball bounced around and found the hands of Hoquiam’s Jordan Sears to end the game.

“For all the stuff that happened to us,” Ames said. “to be here, was nice.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Meridian rally comes up short in wild state playoff loss to Hoquiam."