Coming off a season they would all soon rather forget, the Meadowview Christian Trojans knew they would have to play their best to beat teams this year. They knew they had to take care of the ball, play sound fundamentals on both sides and hope for breaks to go their way.

All of those areas went terribly wrong Friday in the Trojan’s season-opener as they fell to the Ashford Falcons 28-8 at Wasden Field.

“I am not sure just how many fumbles we had tonight, but it seemed like they recovered every one of them,” Trojan head coach John Glasscock said.

For Meadowview, it was four fumbles they lost to the Falcons, one that happened on their very first play from scrimmage and another that was returned for a touchdown, putting the game out of reach midway through the second quarter.

“I would say that we started the game real tight, nervous,” Glasscock said. “I thought we settled down in the second half and played well.”

Aside from the turnovers, the Falcons’ option offense kept the Trojans on their heals throughout the night, racking up 360 yards of total offense — all of it coming on the ground.

The big performer for the night was Falcon running back Alex Morris, who rushed for 187 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Morris reached the 100-yard mark late in the second quarter.

Meadowview starting quarterback Dylan Lawrence led the way for the Trojans. The senior had 166 yards rushing on 14 carries and one touchdown. Lawrence was also 6-for-8 passing for 65 yards.

Brandon Smith rushed for 48 yards for the Trojans on six carries.

Overall, the Trojans generated 301 yards of offense, but had six fumbles, losing four of them to Ashford.

Meadowview’s lone score came in the fourth quarter, driving 65 yards on just two Lawrence runs, including his 40-yard touchdown run with 4:17 remaining in the game.

Smith ran the ball into the endzone for the 2-point conversion, ending the scoring.

For Meadowview, their focus now turns to next week’s game against Sumter.

“All I know is to get back to work next week and focus on Sumter,” Glasscock said. “We need to put this one behind us.”