In the season opener, the Cowboys met a league opponent, the North Fork Miners, another team that made it to postseason season quarterfinals last year.
“Each year is different, we never know how the schedule will end up, it just happened that this year we have a league opponent first,” said head coach Andy Coryell.
The Cowboys shut out North Fork 28-0 in the season opener. | TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
The Miners took possession first and drove it down to around the 30 yard line before giving it up. The Cowboys scored on their first possession and kept the momentum going the entire game.
“In our first game I was impressed with how we were able to feed off of each other’s energy,” said senior Casey Brink. “The versatility we have on the field, where many of the guys are capable of playing many positions, is a big positive.”
Before the end of the first half the Miners were nearing the Cowboy end zone when Brink had a pick six, running it down for a 91 yard scoring return.
In the third quarter Ethan Quinn had a big stop at the one yard line after a long Miner reception.
“I always tell the boys to keep going, never give up,” said Coryell. “We had young guys on the line but they stopped them from scoring, because the boys never gave up.”
Senior Kaden Franklin said that he “thinks as a team we are really well connected and trusting in each other which goes a long way, I also think that as a team we have more grit than anyone we will run into.”
Brink said “As a leader of the team it is most important to let my teammates constantly know that I hold a high value for them. If they feel important by their team members and leaders of the team they are bought in and have motivation to hold their standard.”
When the dust settled Brink had scored two touchdowns, one additional with a through the air connection from quarterback Ryan Sullivan, and Clay Crawford and Cade Blunt each added one more rushing score. Crawford led the team with 102 rushing yards and then defensively Elijah Leblanc and Chase Callahan had over 10 tackles each.
The Cowboys beat North Fork 28-0.
Monday night the JV met Moffat County and the outcome was not what the Cowboys were looking for.
“I think one of the most important things we as seniors need to do is to just keep everyone in good spirits and having fun,” said Franklin, a challenge when the score does not reflect effort. “My biggest personal advice for freshmen would be to just stick with the sport because a lot can change in a year. If you stick with it you will play in your later years and you’ll have a lot of fun on the way, and build great friendships.”
This weekend the Cowboys will face the Limon Badgers, who are currently ranked number one and the Cowboys are sitting in seventh.
Touted as one of the top matchups across the state, this will be the first time for any of these boys to play on this field. Game time is 7 p.m. and will be streamed on NFHS.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
