No opponent means no game, but a win for MHS

MEEKER I The Cowboys won a game without even suiting up.
And it was against a school that apparently is no longer, well, a school.
Meeker called off its game last Friday against New Direction Academy of Aurora after repeated attempts to contact the online school proved unsuccessful.
“No, we never did hear anything from them,” said Meeker High School Principal George Henderson, who also doubles as athletic director. “I talked to CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association) and they said we wouldn’t be held accountable with the things we did to try to contact that school.”
An online story by KDVR TV — the Fox affiliate in Denver — reported Aug. 25 that New Direction Academy had accreditation problems and had “no affiliation with any accredited school district or online program.”
Cowboy head coach Shane Phelan said Meeker made every effort to contact New Direction Academy before calling off the game.
“We’d been trying to contact someone at the school forever. We tried and tried,” Phelan said. “There’s been no correspondence back. We never did get a hold of anybody.”
Phelan said this was the first time for Meeker to have New Direction Academy on its football schedule. It will be the last.
“I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Aurora, and he said he thinks the school is defunct now,” Phelan said.
Phelan said he figured the game was in doubt when New Direction Prep canceled its game the week before.
“They e-mailed West Grand on Thursday night (before the game), and said they weren’t coming,” Phelan said. “But we couldn’t get anybody to even talk to us.”
As far as how the layoff would effect his team, Phelan said the Cowboys would stick to their regular workout schedule.
“You worry a little bit about getting out of your routine, and we were disappointed there wasn’t a game, but this was a good time for a bye week, I guess, going into league play It’ll give us a little extra time to prepare,” Phelan said. “We’re just trying to get better every day.”
Meeker will host West Grand on Friday for homecoming. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Starbuck Stadium.
“They have a young team,” Phelan said of West Grand. “But they also have a hall of fame coach. He’s been there for 35 years. He always gets his kids ready to play, no matter how much talent he had. We expect them to come out and play hard, and hopefully we’ll do the same.”
Even though the Cowboys have played three games so far this season — while most teams have played four — officially, Meeker will take a 3-1 record into Friday’s homecoming matchup.
Hey, a win is a win.