Trojans take Taylor Trophy back for 59th time

Auburn High School’s football team wasted no time sending the Taylor Trophy back home for the 59th time in its rivalry game against Kent-Meridian.

The Trojans beat down the Royals in the 115th meeting between the two sides on Sept. 6.

Auburn won 44-13 over Kent-Meridian for its ninth straight win over the Royals.

“There is a lot that we are happy with, but we also have a lot to clean up,” Head Coach Aaron Chantler said.

Over recent history, the Taylor Trophy might start turning a little green and gold from the dust that has accumulated on it because since 1999, it will now be at Auburn High for 24 out of the past 26 years.

In the nine-game win streak, Auburn has beaten the Royals on average by 30 points.

This year, the start of the game was a little testy for the Trojans. After a penalty-riddled first drive, the Trojans faced a 4th and 12 from the Kent-Meridian 20 yard line. A clutch throw and catch from Baylen Erdmann to Lucas Whitehall-Gilkes put the Trojans on the doorstep for the first points of the game. Erdmann found Isaiah Sanchez in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. The Royals came out in an event front (four down linemen), which the Trojans were not prepared for.

“Seeing an event front wasn’t on our bingo card… But you gotta just stay true to your rules and you’ll be okay,” Chantler said.

On the following possession, Erdmann threw his first interception of the game before the Trojan defense stepped up again. After the defense got the ball back, Erdmann threw a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Sayon Rias found the endzone with an 11-yard catch and the Trojans were rolling after that.

Auburn’s momentum continued on the very next Kent-Meridian possession. Big Lijah Patelo picked up a fumble and rumbled into the endzone from 20 yards out with 47 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Auburn’s defense really got the offense going in the right direction. After punting on the first drive and throwing an interception on the third, the offense settled in. But the defense was firing on all cylinders.

“I thought our defense played great football for all four quarters … Defensively from the get-go we did a good job of pinning them deep and not giving up a big play,” Chantler said.

On the second fourth and long of the first half, the Trojans converted once more. The QB found his trusty target Whitehall-Gilkes on 4th and 10. Whitehall-Gilkes made a move and danced into the endzone for the 20-yard score and really put the game out of reach.

The final score of the first half came on the ground via RJ Conlan. It wasn’t a great half for the senior, who made some costly mistakes early. On a would-be punt return touchdown, Conlan was flagged for a blindside block and a taunt penalty. In the moment, they caused some frustration on the sidelines and with Conlan, but Chantler saw a difference on the field after those penalties.

“RJ is a passionate football player… He responded well, he owned it with us and for me. Then it came about ‘go get it back,’” Chantler said.

Kent-Meridian did break through on the scoreboard in the second half with a touchdown on a muffed Auburn punt. But the Trojans responded with Erdmann rushing into the endzone on a designed run.

Erdmann was seeing his first fall action since suffering a year-ending knee injury last season. For the most part, Erdmann did his job.

“He was chomping at the bit to get out there … When he was playing within himself and delivering the ball on time he did a really good job,” said Chantler.

In the fourth quarter, Isaiah Avelar got some work as the quarterback for the Trojans. He showed a lot of promise and gave Chantler a glimpse of what he came be: “He is a pretty impressive runner.” Avelar ran for 20 yards on his first play.

The Trojans’ next matchup is against Bellarmine, an opponent that isn’t familiar to most players on the Auburn roster. But that team is all too familiar for Chantler, who grew up as rivals with Bellarmine, which carried into the start of his coaching career at Gig Harbor.

“There is so much history, personally with those guys… This is another team where we saw film and they do this, but don’t be surprised,” he said. “It is exciting for me to play those guys again.”