The Meridian High School football team overcame an early deficit at Skyline, but couldn’t get a defensive stop late as they fell 33-43 on the road on Friday night.
After dominating Warren County at home last week, the Mustangs traveled to Front Royal looking for back-to-back wins with playoff seeding at stake. Skyline’s Zayden Burks had other plans, though, taking the very first play from scrimmage to the house and rushing for upwards of 300 yards on the night.
Meridian trailed 15-6 early, but fought back to lead 19-15 in the second quarter as Duke Dawson, Alex Jacobson, and Oumar Thompson all had touchdowns in the first half. Skyline retook the lead but missed a field goal heading into halftime, leaving the Mustangs trailing by only three at the break.
Unfortunately, Meridian struggled to stop Skyline’s high-powered offense in the second half, and trailed by as much as 17 before a late touchdown catch by Junior Martinez Cruz. Thompson also scored again during the third quarter, his second of the night.
“We gave it a great effort,” said head coach PJ Anderson postgame. “We lost four guys last week and put up a fight against a team that’s going to be the No. 2 or 3 seed in the region. But the execution could’ve been better.” This game was scheduled to be Meridian’s next-to-last contest of the regular season, with their finale at Manassas Park on November 7th. However, that matchup was forfeited, which will give the Mustangs some extra rest before awaiting their playoff opponent in two weeks. They finish the regular season with a record of 5-5, a multi-game improvement from last fall and their best mark since going 10-3 back in 2021.
