Mountaineers defense shines in victory (w/ video highlights)

Everything was set to be yet another page of the thrilling story that is the Mount Baker-Meridian rivalry.

But in a span of two plays, the switch was flipped and the Mountaineers went on to win 36-15 over the Trojans on Friday, Oct. 23, at Mount Baker High School.

On third-and-10, Gene Fleming sacked Trojans (4-4, 3-2 NWC 1A) quarterback Simon Burkett, who was taken off with an injury and didn’t return. The next play, a bad snap on a punt attempt forced a safety.

Mount Baker (7-1, 5-0 NWC 1A) didn’t look back.

“As soon as we got that safety all of our mentality was just having fun,” Baker running back Jed Schleimer said. “That mentality stuck the rest of the night.”

Schleimer, who was held to just 20 rushing yards in the teams’ first meeting, wasn’t going to be stopped this time, starting the Mountaineers’ second-half runaway with a 71-yard play-action TD reception from Mason Bass to put the Mountaineers up 22-7.

Schleimer went on to score two more touchdowns – a 1-yarder and 3-yarder – on his way to a 190-yard performance and three total touchdowns.

“It felt great. Personally, I didn’t think I was going to have a big night because last time we played them, they keyed me pretty hard,” Schleimer said. “But our line did a good job tonight and I bounced back.”

His three consecutive scores put the Mountaineers up 36-7 before a late 5-yard TD pass from Trojans backup quarterback Marcus McGuinn to Daniel Young in the back of the end zone.

While it was a nice night for the Northwest Conference’s leading rusher, the Mounties defense might have had a better one. The Mountaineers had three sacks, forced four fumbles and held the Trojans to just 24 yards on the ground.

Aside from a 65-yard drive, which included four fourth-down conversions, by Meridian to open the game, capped by a 5-yard pass from Burkett to Dritsas, the Trojans offense couldn’t muster much against the physical Mountaineers.

“We just kept playing,” Baker coach Ron Lepper said. “We talked all week long about playing hard and being physical and I think we showed that.”

Bass, who scored on a 1-yard QB sneak to start the second half, also completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Barbo in the first quarter.

The win secures yet another NWC Class 1A title for the Mountaineers, who play Lynden Christian next Friday in the final game of the regular season. The Trojans will look to bounce back before the postseason with a home match against Nooksack Valley Friday, Oct. 30.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Mountaineers defense shines in victory (w/ video highlights)."