The Meeker Cowboy football team suffered its third loss of the season when it traveled to Gunnison for a league matchup last Friday.
TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
Gunnison came out strong putting up 10 points in the first before Meeker was able to answer. The second quarter didn’t go as smooth for Gunnison with Meeker able to shut them out while getting themselves on the board, and the teams went to half time, 10-7 Gunnison.
The third quarter was dominated by Meeker beginning with a Ryan Sullivan to Casey Brink pass that, for the first time in the game, put Meeker on top. The extra point by Jake Blazon and the Cowboys were up 14-10.
On Gunnison’s next drive they went up by three but Dagon Dade quickly answered, and Meeker was back on top 21-17 with 7:47 left in the game, but it was short lived.
Gunnison scored in less than six plays, but failed to secure a two point conversion, score 23-21 them.
There was just over five minutes left in the game and Meeker turned the ball over, forcing the coaching staff to use all their timeouts to stop Gunnison from scoring. The defense got it done, shutting them down again, but with just under 2:30 left in the game and no timeouts, Meeker had to rely on their passing game to try and stop the clock after each play. The possessions flip flopped one more time, with Meeker getting another stop, but with less than a minute the Cowboys were unable to get close enough for a field goal. Final score 23-21 Gunnison.
“I thought it was another really good high school football game,” commented head coach Andy Coryell. “Gunnison just made one more play than we did. We’ll clean a few things up this week and go from there.”
Senior Elijah LeBlanc says “the best part of the season for me so far has been the last two weeks just getting to play challenging teams with a good run game. I’ve enjoyed being pushed as a team and seeing the progress we’ve made over the year.”
The offensive line, often overlooked, not stats of their own, in reality, control the offensive game. The Cowboy line of Teagan Sheridan, Jacob Simonsen, Noah LeBlanc, Joe McKay, and Judd Harvey have protected QB Sullivan through seven games, only allowing him to be touched four times. They have opened 230 holes for 1517 yards of rushing by Clay Crawford, Connor Blunt, Dade, Brink, and Cade Blunt, helping them to average 6.6 yards per carry. Through the air they have held fast 94 times allowing Sullivan to have a nearly 60% completion rate passing. Veterans to the line, juniors Sheridan and Harvey, and senior McKay started last year and with the rest of the line they combine for over 1000 pounds of Cowboy wall.
The Cowboys are sitting 10th in the top 16 teams with two weeks left. They will host Olathe Oct. 28. | TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
This week is another bye week, while they were hoping to get a game, one was never found.
“I just hope we use the week off to our advantage to get better,” said LeBlanc. “Yeah the two losses were definitely tough but if we just keep learning from them and improving I think we can get back in it.”
The Cowboys are sitting in the number 10 slot, and the top 16 teams make the playoffs, but only the top eight host. With two more full weeks, it is anyone’s guess where they might play. What is known, the Cowboys have their final game of the regular season on Oct. 28 when they host Olathe.
Special to the Herald Times
