Facing a 22-point deficit at the half, the Borah High football team didn’t flinch.

Senior Hunter Kenyon rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns — including the final three of the second half — to rally the Lions for a 33-28 victory against Meridian on Thursday night at Dona Larsen Park.

“Hunter Kenyon just loves the game of football,” Borah coach Darren Corpus said. “He’s a football player. He’ll block, he doesn’t care if he scores, and when it’s his turn to get a first down he’s up to the challenge. He’s just a heck of a kid.”

Down 28-26 with a little more than 2 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Borah senior defensive tackle Emillio Trevino sacked Meridian quarterback Jake Berard for a 2-yard loss on third-and-5 from the Warriors’ own 25-yard line, forcing Meridian to punt.

Borah got the ball back at the 2:01 mark and responded with a 53-yard, seven-play drive to take the lead on Kenyon’s 15-yard TD run.

“I’m just glad that we could beat Meridian because last time the refs took it away from us,” said Kenyon, referring to last year’s 41-36 loss at Meridian. “I owe it all to the O-line. They did a great job.”

The game didn’t start nearly as well as it ended for the Lions.

Meridian scored on its first drive of the game, finishing with a 5-yard touchdown run by Berard and a two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead with 6 minutes, 26 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Warriors tacked on three more touchdowns in the second quarter and held a 28-6 advantage at the half.

“We’ve worked so hard since last winter and I think it’s starting to gel right now,” Corpus said.