After 15 years of residing in a trophy case at Auburn High School, the coveted Taylor Trophy has a new home at Kent-Meridian for the next 12 months.

Saturday’s 42-39 overtime win at French Field is the first time the Royals (2-0) have defeated the Trojans (1-1) since 1999 and puts the series between the football rivals – who have played every season since 1908 – at 50-49-7 in favor of Auburn.

“There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that only people who are close to it know about,” said Kent-Meridian coach Brett Allen. “These kids go through so much on a daily basis. They deserve so much to win at life. They’re sharing this now with alumni, with the student body. They accomplished something, and I know it’s a cliché, but a lot of times they lose at life. We want this to be someplace where they can love each other and enjoy some success.”

Auburn drew first blood in the contest with quarterback Nick Kaatz finding Malik Williams for a 59-yard touchdown pass.

Down 7-0, Kent-Meridian responded with less than eight minutes in the quarter, with quarterback Veningo Malietufa and receiver Emmanuel Daigbe hooking up for a 22-yard TD pass.

The Royals closed out the opening quarter with Tristan Ingold booting a 24-yard field goal to put his team up 10-7.

In the second quarter the Trojans recaptured the lead with Williams scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run three minutes into the frame.

Kent-Meridian turned to the big play for its next score, striking on a Malietufa to Marcus Dennis for a 78-yard touchdown. Ingold’s point-after kick put the Royals up 17-13.

With two minutes left in the half, Kent-Meridian again turned to the Malietufa-Daigbe connection, this time for a 13-yard TD pass.

To close out the half, the Trojan quarterback Justin Ioimo punched it in from a yard out, with a failed two-point conversion run putting the score at 24-19 at intermission.

In the second half, Auburn got things started with a drive capped by Patrick O’Dell’s 3-yard rushing touchdown, putting the score at 26-24

Williams’ 11-yard run stretched Auburn’s lead to eight points, putting the Trojan’s in control 32-24.

Again Kent-Meridian responded with Malik Woolery galloping in from 55 yards out. A missed point-after attempt put the score at 32-30, heading into the final quarter.

Cornerback Nate Barton put the Royals up 36-32 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter with a 66-yard interception return.

The Trojans recaptured the lead with Ioimo hooking up with Williams for a 45-yard TD pass and a 39-36 lead.

With just seconds on the game clock, however, Kent-Meridian’s Ingold forced the game into OT with a 28-yard field goal.

In the bonus quarter, after an successful Auburn drive, Ingold again proved the hero, booting another 22-yard field goal to put the game away for the Royals, 42-39.

“I’m feeling good. We just got this important win,” Daigbe said. “I’ve been telling everybody this is a different team. This isn’t last year’s team. We work together and work as a team.”

Offensively, Kent-Meridian finished the game with 449 yards of total offense, 156 rushing and 293 through the air.

Malietufa was 27-of-38 passing for 293 yards, three TDs and three interceptions.

“We felt really confident going in,” Allen added. “We’ve played close games with these guys most of the years we’ve been here. Last year we lost to them on a last-second field goal. So we knew we could play with them. The kids had a real good week. I think they were a little tight to start the game.

“We’re not a secret anymore. Everybody knows they can’t circle us anymore (for a win on the schedule).”

For Barton, a senior who played in last year’s losing effort for the Royals, the win was especially sweet.

“I was just feeling confident,” Barton said. “I was feeling very confident that we were going to come out and get the win. I didn’t want it to be like last year. That was very upsetting. We’re not done. We’ve got unfinished business. This is just the start. We’ve been training all offseason for this, and this is just the first milestone of many.”

Trojans coach Gordon Elliott said he didn’t believe overconfidence played a part in his team’s loss, pinning the blame on mistakes and youth.

“We didn’t play very well,” Elliott said. “We made a lot of key mistakes. You can’t make mistakes in a close game like that. I think we just didn’t do a very good job of playing good, mentally focused football. I don’t think it had anything to do with overconfidence. I think we just have a lot of guys who are still learning how to play varsity football, and we had a lot of guys who are not used to what they need to focus on during a key game.”

Elliott continued:

“We start league play and play the team that won league the last two years, Peninsula, so obviously we’ve got to play better football than that,” Elliott said. “We’re just going to work on eliminating our mistakes and getting our defensive players playing better. I don’t think we did a good job on defense.”

Auburn had 358 yards of total offense, 129 in the air and 229 rushing. The team boasted five runners in double-digit yards gained, including Ioimo who had 65 yards on 16 carries. Avery Wade and O’Dell both finished with 52 yards rushing and Williams carried the ball four times for 33 yards.

Ioimo and Kaatz, who share time under center fore the Trojans, both had passing touchdowns, with Ioimo going 2-for-5 for 48 yards and Kaatz going 4-of-9 for 81 yards.

Williams had two catches for 105 yards and a pair of TDs and O’Dell hauled in three passes.

The Trojans begin their South Puget Sound League 3A run next Friday, hosting Peninsula (1-1) at 7 p.m. at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

Kent-Meridian hosts Beamer (1-1) at 7 p.m. next Friday at French Field.

– Kent Reporter reporter Ross Coyle contributed to this article.