MEEKER | There was a night and day difference between the first and second half of the Cowboy v. Skiers football game last Friday.
“I don’t think we really made any adjustments,” said head coach Andy Coryell. “Really it came down to talking at the half about executing and getting the job done, they made the adjustment on the field.”
The teams went to the locker room at the half tied 21 all and those were the last points the Cowboys allowed the Skiers to put up, meanwhile they doubled their score and had three rushers break 100 yards.
“Our offensive line did their job, and you can see that in the stats,” said Coryell, “three rushers above 100 yards means we were creating holes and the line was doing what we always do just a little bit better.”
The starting offensive line for the Cowboys is Judd Harvey, Teagan Sheridan, Noah LeBlanc, Jacob Simonsen and Tate Kerchel.
Lead rusher for the third week in a row was Clay Crawford with 161 yards. Wyatt Powers had 122 and Cade Blunt 100. It was a big yardage week for the Cowboys. These three Cowboys also each scored two touchdowns, and the final six points came from Jake Blazon’s PAT’s.
Ryan Sullivan threw for 74 yards, four yards to himself when he caught a deflected pass.
“Defensively Coach Finley made some small tweaks including adjusting where we sent Harvey and they seemed to make a difference in the second half,” commented Coryell.
“Once again our line did a great job putting pressure on the quarterback,” said Coreyll.
The starting defensive line for the Cowboys is Brendan Clatterbaugh, Noah LeBlanc, Teagan Sheridan and Hayden Shults. It is a tough position and the rotation includes Colton Newman, Jacob Simonsen, Dawson Willey and Tate Kerchel.
Harvey led the defense with 13 tackles, Clatterbaugh had 11 and Blazon 10. Harvey and Clatterbaugh are both in the top 10 for tackles in Colorado class 1A. Harvey has 36 tackles for the year and is currently number five in the state and second in the Western Slope League. Clatterbaugh has 31, sits number eight in the state and fourth in the Western Slope League. Also in the top 10 across the Western Slope League for tackles is Blunt at number seven and Shults at number 10.
“I think Blazon had one of the hardest jobs, he was guarding a large receiver and covering his side for the run,” said Coryell.
The Cowboys evened it out with 21 points both halves to win the game 42-21, despite the number of penalties.
“The valley is a different region for the referees and they call the game differently than it is done in Meeker,” commented Coryell, “it’s not that we haven’t been doing the exact same things, they just don’t necessarily call them, and they were calling on both sides.”
“That is why it is nice having a team of experienced guys,” said Coryell. “We can make adjustments without them getting too flustered by the mistakes.”
Meeker has multiple members leading stats across the state. Sullivan is currently the top 1A punter averaging 47 yards per punt. Powers is top five for interceptions across class 1A, and Crawford is in the top 16 for rushing yards.
The game ended with class when Crawford snagged an interception and ran it back 35 yards to Aspen’s five yard line. The Cowboys had only needed one play the entire game to score from this range. With 56 seconds left in the game, Meeker went into victory formation and took a knee, ending the game 42-21.
The team now will take on an opponent Friday that they have never faced, Grand County High School out of Moab, Utah.
“We are a little in the dark,” said Coryell, “we don’t know any of the kids, we don’t know anything about the schools they have played, we will just have to go out there and do what we do.”
Moab has a 1-3 record and according to MaxPreps their quarterback is a sophomore, just as Aspen’s was.
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday at Starbuck Stadium.
