By Mike Abler
The Mustangs celebrated Homecoming in style with a 61-40 win over the Skyline Tigers last Friday. With a bounce back win the football team improves to 4-2. Skyline took an early lead as Meridian gave up a touchdown on the opening drive and fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Skyline missed the two extra points and Meridian found themselves in an early 12-0 hole.
After a slow start and an injury to Skyline’s QB Meridian’s defense came on strong forcing five straight turnovers which included four fumbles and an interception. Meridian was able to put up 35 unanswered points on the board in what turned out to be the difference in the game. Offensively, the team bounced back from the previous game, “We executed better and fixed the mistakes from last week,” Senior QB Rice Evans said.
The Tigers put up a great fight in the 2nd half outscoring the Mustangs 28-26 after several substitutions for Meridian. However, the Mustangs maintained the lead and went to victory. The loss drops Skyline to 0-4 on the season. Head Coach Adam Amerine, (who’s also the defensive coordinator) noted that the mercy rule was repeated. During the game, it was revoked because Skyline kept fighting back.
“This has happened before and a part of that was us putting our backups in after we went up 41-12,” Amerine said. “We wanted some of the younger players to get reps.” Amerine also said, “The turnovers were key to the momentum shift in the first half.”
Despite Skyline’s struggles this year, Evans and Amerine were pleased with the win. “They always play us well,” Amerine mentioned.
“We always want to give them our best,” Evans added while also saying that, “They beat us in my freshman and sophomore year, it’s always nice to take them down. Being a District opponent and all.”
At 4-2, the team is optimistic about the future if they stay healthy. “If we go into November with few injuries, then I think we’ll be tough to beat,” Amerine said.
When asked about how they’d approach their next opponent, both Evans and Amerine said this: “We treat every team with respect and not take anyone lightly.”
The Mustangs look to continue their success and make the playoffs this year.
