MEEKER I The Barone Middle School football team was at home Saturday against Grand Valley and both the seventh and eighth grade teams battled hard but fell short against the tough teams.
The seventh graders played tenacious defense and Logan Hughes did an outstanding job finding open players and delivering the football late in the game, finding Jake Pelloni for a gain, but a persistent Grand Valley team made it too difficult for Meeker to make big plays and the seventh graders came up short at the end of the game.
The eighth grade game was a battle of the defenses, both teams standing their ground and keeping the game scoreless late into the last quarter. Some offensive changes saw quarterback Sheridan Harvey rolling out and completing multiple passes to Cole Brown and Doke Mantle. Casey Turner continued to run right up the gut for positive yards. Dominick Cardile and Tell Blanke had huge defensive plays, knocking down passes and delivering a big hit in the back field to stop the Grand Valley drives. There was no score with four minutes on the clock but a pass interference call in the end zone set up a touchdown run for the opponents. Meeker lost the ball on their next possession and Grand Valley scored again, sealing the game. The Cowboys all played hard and will be on the road to Rangely this Saturday for games beginning at 9 a.m.