TURNING IT AROUND

With District 10-2A, DII big guns out of the way, Meridian Yellow Jackets turn to battling the pack for a playoff berth still looking for first win

After opening District 10-2A, Division II by facing arguably the best three teams first, the Meridian Yellow Jackets now turn their attention to competing with the rest of the pack for a playoff berth. And it all begins on the road this week at Hubbard.

With Dawson striking early, quickly and often in the first quarter, the Bulldogs took control early on their way to a dominating 50-7 victory over Meridian last Friday night in Jacket Stadium.

“We knew going in that we were going to have to play mistake free if we were going to have a chance Thursday night,” Meridian head coach Jim Kerbow said. “But we struggled early moving the football, and we had some mistakes on special teams and on defense which led to quick scores.”

Jumping out to a 30-0 first quarter lead, Dawson (2-0 in district, 6-0 overall) built a 44-0 advantage by halftime and never looked back.

In the meantime, the Jacket offense struggled to move the ball early. And then, when Meridian hit a couple of big plays, they were called back on penalties. Although the Jackets (0-3, 0-7) produced only 156 yards of total offense against Dawson, senior Brady Taylor led the team with 93 yards rushing on 16 carries and scored Meridian’s only touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“The offense was able to move the ball this week more efficiently than in the past three weeks,” Kerbow said. “Brayden Wehmeyer did a great job at the quarterback position of standing the pocket and throwing the football. Unfortunately, we dropped several balls that could have sustained drives. Our offensive line is progressively getting better each week, which allowed us to run the ball more effectively this week.”

After a rough first quarter, the Jackets were able to slow down the juggernaut Dawson offense. Defensively, freshman Jesse Scott led the Jackets with 10 tackles, followed by Taylor with six as well as juniors Noah Alvizo and John Wyatt with five each, while sophomore Matty Jones pulled down an interception.

“We struggled early with Dawson’s speed out on the perimeter,” Kerbow said. “Once our players settled in and adapted to their speed, we were able to slow the Dawson offense down.”

With the district’s three big guns out of the way, the Jackets hit the road to take on the Hubbard Jaguars at 7 p.m. Friday. The Jaguars (0-2 in district, 0-6 overall) had an open week in the district schedule coming off back-to-back losses to Wortham, 69-6, and Dawson, 20-12.

“Challenges that we will face this week is that Hubbard has some speed at the quarterback, running back and receiver positions, and also in the defensive secondary,” Kerbow said. “However, we do feel that we match up with Hubbard. And if we can execute in all three phases of the game, we will have an opportunity to turn our season around.”