Meridian football stuns No. 1 Mountain View, extending underdog run into state semifinals
The Meridian High football team won its first playoff game in 14 years last week. Not satisfied with one program-defining win, the Warriors delivered another one Friday in shocking fashion.
The unranked Warriors crushed Mountain View 35-6 on the Mavericks’ home field, forcing six turnovers to rout the state’s unanimous No. 1-ranked team, its crosstown rival and the 5A SIC champ for a spot in the semifinals.
The Warriors (8-3) will host No. 2 Rigby (9-1), a 41-14 winner over Capital, next week.
“Honestly, I think we’re the best team in the state,” said junior defensive lineman Corbin Meisner, who had a fumble recovery and his first career interception Friday. “We’ve got the best defense in the state. We’ve just got to play our game, and go out and hit some people.”
Meridian led the 5A ranks all year in scoring defense, only falling to No. 2 last week after a 47-28 win over Madison in the first round of the state playoffs. But the Warriors emphatically took back the title of Idaho’s toughest defense Friday.
Meridian’s six forced turnovers add to its state-leading total, which now stands at 29 in 11 games.
Mountain View (9-1) had committed only three turnovers all season entering Friday, including none in its past five games.
“Our defense was nails. That’s all I can say,” Meridian quarterback Malakai Martinez said. “Our defense killed it. They were hungry from last week, struggling a little bit. But they bounced back, and that’s what we needed and that’s what we’re going to do for the rest of the year.”
Mountain View took the first lead when it turned a Mason Chiles interception into Dominic Sotomayer’s 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. But Meridian dominated the rest of the way, scoring a touchdown on the ensuing possession on five of Mountain View’s six turnovers.
The Warriors, finally back at full strength offensively after a litany of injuries, showcased all their weapons to run away. Kross Antonnacchi ran for 117 yards and a TD. Malakai Martinez and Zeke Martinez both threw for touchdowns. And Marco Del Rio, Davis Thacker and Quentin Riley each found the end zone.
While the lopsided score stands as a surprise, Meridian has hung with the state’s best programs all year. Its three losses came by a combined five points to Mountain View, Eagle and Rocky Mountain.
That includes a 14-13 loss at Mountain View in Week 1 when the Warriors missed a 33-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. But those defeats are a distant memory now.
“Those three losses, we don’t want to hold on to them,” Meridian junior linebacker Nathan Reynolds said. “We knew we were a good team, and our team unity was great. … This game, we all knew what was on the line. We didn’t want our seniors’ last game to be tonight.”
The upset win continues a remarkable turnaround for the athletic program at Meridian. The Warriors hadn’t won a state championship in any sport since their football team’s undefeated run in 2007. Then the wrestling program won its first state title in 34 years last winter, followed by the boys basketball team’s first state title in 29 years the next week.
“It takes awhile to build a program,” Meridian coach John Zamberlin said. “But this is only our third year, and we’ve got good kids. We work hard to develop them and coach them the right way.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 11:25 PM.
