MEEKER | The Cowboys moved one step closer to the playoffs with a definitive win over the Olathe Pirates.
In their final away game of regular season the Cowboys quickly took command of the game. On the first possession of the game the Cowboys worked their way down the field and Ryan Phelan ran it in to put six up on the board; answered by Braydon Garcia for the extra two points; with 7:44 left in the first the Cowboys were up 8-0 and the Pirates were touching the ball for the first time. “The kids played really well,” said head coach Shane Phelan. “From the start they came out strong.”
Just over a minute ticked off the clock and Kelton Turner recovered a fumble; the first of six turnovers by the Pirates. Phelan met Spud White for a 30-plus yard gain and carried it down to the 5-yard line where Turner ran it in for six more.
The game continued with Olathe only being able to answer one time. Late in the second, Colby Clatterbaugh intercepted the ball and ran it 75 yards adding another six, Phelan ran it in and the score was 36-7. The possession by Olathe didn’t last long, White had the second Cowboy interception and Meeker took it back to their 43-yard line to end the half 36-7.
“Our offense played well and the defense created turnovers that the offense capitalized on,” said Phelan. “All three facets of the game feed off of each other, and when they cause turnovers and are able to capitalize, it is better for us.”
The intensity of the game continued through the second half. With six minutes and 14 seconds left in the third Trinden Powell grabbed his first of two interceptions and the Cowboys worked it down the field to add six more, making it 43-7.
Olathe scored halfway through the fourth quarter, 43-13 Meeker, and that is how the game finished. The Cowboys did have one turnover: an interception in the second half. “When you win the turnover margin by five it puts us in a really good place to win,” commented Phelan.
“Both the offensive and defensive lines did especially well, the offense line worked hard allowing us to do some good things in our running and passing game and the defensive line helped create pressure on the quarterback, which helped the secondary,” he added.
Through the air and on the ground the Cowboys put up some impressive stats. Phelan threw for 199 yards, connecting with White for 95, Turner for 31 and Liam Deming for 27. On the ground Turner had an additional 206 yards to lead the team in 242 all-purpose yards. Also scoring for the Cowboys were Jeremy Woodward and John Hampton Hightower.
Defensively there was a lot of contribution but it was led by Zach Eskelson with 15 tackles, Woodward with 10, Clatterbaugh with nine, and Turner and Connor Blunt each with seven.
This week a league rival, Paonia, makes their way to Meeker for the last regular season home game. Kickoff is Friday at 7 p.m. “This is always an important contest, they throw quite a bit and we will need to be ready. We plan on coming out strong, setting the tone early, and putting on a show for our home crowd,” commented Phelan.
A review of the polls: RPI, Cowboys remain at No. 2; Coaches Poll, No. 7; MaxPreps, fifth; the Packard is usually not released in time to the published in the paper. Bracketing for the playoffs will be released on Sunday and there are a few things to keep in mind: once the brackets are created no teams can be added and if for some reason a team must forfeit their game they are out and the team that is scheduled to play them receives a bye. Currently Colorado Preps is the only one forecasting potential brackets and has one through seven as Centauri, Florence, Hotchkiss, Limon, Meeker, Strasburg, and Wray. Eighth place is still up for grabs between Colorado Springs Christian, Highland, Holyoke, Monte Vista and Peyton. This week the number of cancelled games is going to make that final spot tricky. Limon was to play Holyoke but it is cancelled, Peyton and Colorado Springs Christian is cancelled and it is early in the week.
By CAITLIN WALKER | [email protected]
Guidelines for attending Friday’s MHS Football Game
MEEKER I Extracurricular activities in the Meeker School District are an extension of the learning that occurs in our classrooms. The Meeker School District is committed to continue with in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities.
“We ask our community to help us maintain these opportunities for our students by supporting the following behaviors and actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said a press release from the school district Tuesday.
Do not attend Meeker School District games/events if, in the past 14 days, you have:
- Tested positive for COVID-19.
- Had known exposure to a COVID-19 positive individual.
- Experienced major symptoms of COVID-19 including, but are not limited to:
- Fever over 100.4 F lasting more than 24 hours,
- new or unexplained persistent cough
- chills
- loss of taste or smell
- shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Contracted any other illness recently and are not fully recovered.
Consider attending only at the end the game/event if you are an immediate family member of a student participating.
Consider viewing the game from home via the Meeker High School Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MeekerHighSchool/live. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can watch the game at www.ht1885.com.
There will be no concession stand for the Nov. 13 MHS football game with Paonia.
For those who attend games/events in-person, we strongly recommend the following:
- Wear a face mask.
- Maintain appropriate physical distancing at all times (6 feet or more) with those not in your personal family and/or cohort.
- Sit only with those in your personal family and/or cohort.
- Leave the facility once the game/event is complete and do not congregate in common spaces.
- Engage in proper handwashing and respiratory etiquette practices.
- Attempt to stagger arrival and departure so there are not large groups of people entering/exiting at the same time.
The primary goal of the Meeker School District this year is to keep students in classrooms.
Extracurricular activities support this goal as they add learning opportunities, increase school engagement, and enhance the social/emotional wellbeing of students.
Please help support the Meeker School District’s efforts to keep our students in classrooms and provide extracurricular activity opportunities by adhering to the behaviors listed above.
