MEEKER | The defending 1A football state champions came to town, but had no idea what they were going up against. A game which was defensive in nature and won by capitalizing on errors, did not resemble any of the previous matchups between the two teams.
“We have definitely improved from the first week,” began head coach Andy Coryell. “We didn’t change up anything that we have been doing, the boys executed really well what we have been practicing.”
This was the third year in a row for the Limon v. Meeker game, but the first year without a running clock. The first year Limon scored less than 28 points in the first half and the first year the Cowboys scored in a solid drive down the field. These two teams have met seven times since 2017, including twice in the 2018 season.
“Limon is a team of good kids. They are well coached and have a great program,” said Coryell.
The game opened with the Badgers losing the toss and going three and out, kicking to the Cowboys who were also stopped, but the defensive tone of the game was set.
The Badgers effectively shut down the run game for the Cowboys, holding them to 40 yards and less than four yards per carry, so the Cowboys switched it up, and went through the air.
The offensive rushing yards for Limon was recorded at 293 yards, over 100 yards short of their previous week’s stats against Florence.
The Cowboy defense held Limon to seven points until very late in the third quarter, when they got their second score. Then early in the fourth an 85-yard run put the Badgers up 21-7 and another long run brought them to 28.
In the air Meeker held them to 45 total yards, less than half of their 102 yards from the previous weekend.
The final score of the game was 7-28. Seven ran in by Wyatt Powers and the extra point sneaked over the goal from Jake Blazon.
Nearly identical yards on the ground from Powers, Cade Blunt and Clay Crawford. Ryan Sullivan found Jace Mobley for 65 yards, including a single hand catch for 28 yards in the Cowboys drive to score and Crawford also caught for 23 yards in the 118-yard passing game.
Defensively the Cowboys created an environment where Limon had 25 yards in penalties at very timely moments. The Cowboys caused two fumbles recovered by Judd Harvey and Brendan Clatterbaugh and put a lot of pressure on a quarterback who is not used to having his line penetrated.
“There were some bright spots,” said Coryell. “We held our own, the guys up front did a great job, and Mobley had some great catches at key times.”
Clatterbaugh was the leading tackler with 13, Harvey had 10 including one for loss and both Blunt and Hayden Shults had nine.
It is still early in the year, but rankings matter as they depict not just who goes, but who will be matched up in playoffs, and who hosts. Despite the loss, Meeker moved up two spots in the MaxPreps ranking to number 10. Last year being down a game did create issues with the RPI for the Cowboys, and they are facing the same situation again, being one game down. The difference is that this year they will play three large teams outside of their class. The first is next weekend against Aspen, who is class 2A. They will then host Grand County, Utah, a school of more than 600 kids out of Moab. The third game with a big school is in October when the team will travel to Evanston, Wyoming, to play Driggs, Idaho.
The team now turns its attention to Aspen, a throwing team that is much improved according to Coryell.
“Their quarterback is good and consistent, and he is throwing to some really good receivers,” commented Coryell.
Aspen is currently 0-2 but they have played two excellent teams with two good offenses and they returned nearly everyone from last year
Game time in Aspen is 7 p.m.
