Meeker, Meeker Sports, MHS Golf, Sports

Cowboys roll to another big win

Atoafa, Nieslanik have big games as Meeker defeats Fruita JV 50-19

Meeker quarterback Trevor Matrisciano’s senior season is over after he suffered a knee injury in last week’s game.
MEEKER I Three Saturday games. Three wins.
And not just wins, but dominating wins.
Yes, Saturdays have been good to the Cowboys.
Or, the Cowboys have been good on Saturdays. Really good.
In its final non-league game — as well as its final Saturday game — Meeker routed Class 5A Fruita Monument’s junior varsity 50-19 at Starbuck Stadium.
“We wanted to use this as a good tuneup for conference play,” said coach Jeff Palmer.
The 1A Cowboys open conference play Friday night at Leadville against Lake County, a team new to the Western Slope League.
Palmer admitted not knowing a whole lot about this week’s opponent.
“It’s a long trip,” Palmer said. “All I know is you go to Vail and hang a right and keep climbing. You have to get ready to play at 10,125 feet. That’s what the altitude at the field is at.”
If Alema Atoafa runs like he did Saturday against Fruita, they may need to have an oxygen tank for him on the sideline. The senior co-captain rushed 29 times for 247 yards and two touchdowns. And that was just on offense.
On the defensive side, Atoafa, who plays linebacker, returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown and returned an interception 65 yards for a score.
“We knew we were going to give him the ball a lot with Toby (Casias) out. Usually they split the carries,” Palmer said. “But with Toby out (with a stress fracture in his foot), he got just about all the carries, and he produced.”
With Casias out — he’s questionable for Friday’s game, too — the Cowboys went to a single-back formation. And when Atoafa wasn’t getting the call, quarterback Trevor Matrisciano was airing out the ball. Mostly to tight end Jake Nieslanik.
Nieslanik, another senior co-captain, caught four passes for a whopping 161 yards and two touchdowns — the first two scores of the game. Nieslanik’s first TD pass was a 30-yarder. The second score, when he split the defense and was off to the races, went for 76 yards.
The Cowboys led 38-0 at halftime, but late in the second quarter, they lost the services of Matrisciano due to an injury.
“With about 15 seconds left in the second, he got tackled and his knee rolled,” Palmer said.
An MRI on Monday revealed Matrisciano has a torn ACL and will require surgery. He will likely miss the rest of the season. The same thing happened to his older brother, Tyler, during his senior year. Tyler, who also played quarterback for the Cowboys, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the 2008 season.
Sophomore Nate Walsh came in and played quarterback for the Cowboys in the second half.
“After Trevor got hurt, Nate did a good job managing the offense,” Palmer said. “He hadn’t had a lot of snaps with the first team. But he stayed calm and did a good job working the first team offense.
“We were obviously better with Trevor, a senior, but I think we’ll be OK with Nate,” Palmer said.
As for Atofa, who has made big plays all season long, Palmer was asked what he could to top last week’s game.
“I’m going to let him start calling the plays,” the MHS coach said, joking. “That’s about the only thing he could do to top it.
“That was probably one of the best games, offensively and defensively, I’ve ever seen,” Palmer said. “He just took over the game, both ways. Sometimes you’ll see a kid take over on offense or on defense. He took over the both ways.”

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  • Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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