Meridian made a two hour drive south to take on Madison County and left with a 35-8 victory over the Mountaineers. The Mustangs went to work early on offense in the opening quarter taking a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Mustangs would add another 14 points by intermission to hold a 28-0 lead at the halftime break. An early score in the third quarter led to a running clock in the second half of the contest. Despite being down on the scoreboard, the Mountaineers continued to battle and came away with a score in the waning moments of the fourth but it was too little, too late as the outcome had already been decided. Here we’ll take a closer look at the action from yesterday and later we will take a look at analysis and top performers from the entire area slate on VirginiaPreps.com. STAY TUNED…

KEYS TO VICTORY

SPREAD THE DEFENSE

From the time the Mustangs offense took the field in the opening quarter, it was apparent that Meridian had intentions of spreading out the Madison County defense with their speedy running backs. Throughout the contest, Meridian used their dynamic offense to test the edges of the Mountaineers defense and consistently found success with a trio of senior running backs. Patrick Whitaker, Griffin Harrison, and Joshua Stillwagoner each carried the ball on the opening drive and they shared rushing duties throughout the first half as the Mustangs established their offensive attack as planned.

Harrison capped the first drive of the game with a nine yard rushing touchdown and on the Mustangs second offensive series, Whitaker took a screen pass 56 yards to paydirt putting the visitors ahead 14-0 prior to the end of the opening quarter. The two drives totaled seven plays from scrimmage and lasted a combined 3:02.

Meridian scored on all but one of their offensive series in the opening half. The only one that didn’t result in points ended in a turnover when Madison County lineman Anthony Arrington pounced on the loose football midway through the second quarter.

Despite the flaw, Meridian continued to rely on their ground attack. With the rushing attack as the teams' offensive staple, typically Meridian finds great success when execute the way they did Friday night.

OVER THE TOP

With the running game working to near perfection, senior quarterback Evans Rice took to the air in timely situations, taking advantage of a Madison County defense that often had eight or nine defenders in the box.

Rice ended the first half with three touchdown passes and 138 yards passing through the air. Even more astonishing was that 50% of Rice’s pass attempts ended with a touchdown. The Class of 2022 prospect completed five of six in the stanza.

Whitaker, Harrison, and Graham Felgar were the recipients of the scoring passes as Meridian's offense took control of the contest.

In the second half, the Mustangs focused on utilizing Stillwagoner and Felgar in the running game as they siphoned away the time on the clock before ultimately going to their second and third team squad in the final quarter.

DEFENSIVE GRIND

With the success of Meridian's offense, it’s easy to overlook the defense that held Madison County scoreless for 47 minutes, 39 seconds of the game. It wasn’t until the 0:21 mark in the final quarter that the Mountaineers scored when Wade Fox hit Shamon Brown for a 46-yard scoring strike that the Mustangs allowed a score.

In the first half, the Mustangs defensive unit forced four punts, a turnover on downs and put an end the Mountaineers hopes of scoring before intermission when Seth Stillwagoner pulled down Fox behind the line of scrimmage for a sack that allowed time to run out and end the Mountaineers drive.

Until Madison County’s scoring drive, the Meridian defense had allowed just 154 total yards to the Mountaineers offense.

After a strong defensive effort to begin the season against Falls Church, the Mustangs struggled last week allowing 34 points to Kettle Run in the loss. This week, however, Meridian showed that they are going to be a difficult team for opponents to face this year on both sides of the football.

SCORING SUMMARY

Meridian—14 14 7 0—35

Madison County—0 0 0 8—8

First quarter

M—Griffin Harrison 9 yard run (Hellert kick), 7:58

M—Patrick Whitaker 56 yard pass from Evans Rice (Hellert kick), 3:46

Second quarter

M—Harrison 25 yard pass from Rice (kick failed)

M—Safety

M—Graham Felgar 25 yard pass from Rice (kick failed)

Third quarter

M—Joshua Stillwagoner 5 yard run (Hellert kick)

Fourth quarter

MC—Shamon Brown 46 yard pass from Wade Fox (Fox run)

***Hear from Meridian Head Coach Adam Amerine and Madison County Head Coach Larry Helmick below***

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Evans Rice, Meridian…The four year Mustangs quarterback doesn’t often pass as he did in this one but he showed why he has been the mainstay under center for Meridian on Friday night. Rice went 7-9 passing for 236 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to having a supurb night through the air, Rice displayed his offensive management skills by leading his team to five scoring drives and distributing the ball to his teammates evenly in the victory for his squad.

Robert lives in Gordonsville and has been contributing to VirginiaPreps.com since 2013. He also provides freelance contributions to the Daily Progress. Robert began working in the sports sector in 2006 and covers public and private schools throughout the state of Virginia.

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Information can be emailed to bigrob2523@gmail.com and find him on twitter @bigrob2523.