Meadowview Christian School Trojans fell short against the Russell Christian Academy Warriors in their season opener. The Trojans lost 54-6 during their first 11-man game in five years.

Meadowview head football coach, Bob Taylor, said it felt good to be able to play an 11-man game after so many years.

“It was a big thing for our school to be able to do that,” Taylor said.

Meadowview made its first first downdown of the game in the first quarter with 3:50 left on the clock followed by a fumble with 2:01 left on the clock.

Taylor said the team made a lot of errors during the game, but he said they can be corrected with more experience. He said this is a learning curve for the young team.

“We’re a young football team,” Taylor said. “We have a lot of ninth-grade freshman getting into the game. It’s a learning process.”

The second quarter started with the Warriors in the lead with 19-0. Early into the quarter Meadowview was penalized a false start. A few more minutes into the quarter the Warriors had the first turnover of the game at the 40-yard line, caused by Meadowview’s star player Zack Duke. However, due to a slight injury while causing the turnover, Duke had to sit out for the rest of the game.

“Everything kind of rallies around him,” Taylor said. “He’s the heart and soul of the football team. It kind of shook us a little bit, they’re going to continue to improve. We’re just going to continue to do the things we need to do.”

The second quarter ended with 26-0. Even with the Warriors being up 26 points, the Trojans came back in the game with a fighting spirit.

Taylor said at the half, he encouraged the team to follow through and execute more.

“[Our conversation], was just to go out and execute,” Taylor said. “Go out and try to do the little things right. At times, we do and at times we don’t.”

The Warriors scored two more times making the score 40-0 in the third, however Meadowview started to gain momentum. Senior Austin Little scored a touchdown making the score 40-6. After a missed attempt at the two-point conversion, the Trojans pushed forward stopping the Warriors for several more downs. However, the momentum was cut short Russell Christian’s wide receiver Caleb Taylor who intercepted the ball at the 20-yard line and ran down the field for a touchdown, making the score 47-6 with 3:11 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Warriors then scored one more time in the fourth quarter, making the final score 54-6.