It was a rocky season, punctuated by injury and intense adversity. Yet still, the Cowboy football team licked its wounds, and bounced back with a three-game win streak.
The boys finished with a dominant win over league rivals Salida 43-27 at home on Nov. 1 — concluding the season with a 3-6 overall record. The team’s third-place record of 3-2 in the 2A Intermountain League fell just short of postseason qualification.
“The coaches and I were talking about how these guys will get more out of this 3-6 season than a 10-0 season,” said Head Coach Paul Vickers. “They will remember the battles they fought. They had to be resilient and gritty and grind through it all. But I know they will carry these lessons going forward in life.”
After scraping away with a 1-point win over Bayfield on Oct. 26, the Cowboys returned to action against the Spartans on Friday in their final game of the season. In the opening quarter, GHS sprang to life with two early touchdowns, taking a 14-6 lead. The Cowboys tacked on 23 unanswered points in the second quarter, and led 37-6 at the half.
Salida forced its way back into the contest in the second half, but the Cowboy lead was impenetrable, and the game ended 43-27 for GHS. Senior halfback Grady Buckhanan was the star of the show in his final game in red and black. He led the offense with 152 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Additionally, he completed a 63-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Frymoyer, to add another exceptional stat to his tally.
Talon Kibler finished his senior campaign at quarterback for the Cowboys. The senior slinger was crucial to the three-game win streak. Against the Spartans, Kibler completed six passes from nine attempts, and bagged 65 yards. His longest of the night was a 17-yard completion to Oliver Parker. On defense, Cody Casebolt paved the way with eight total tackles, and senior Kleber Flores earned a sack and fumble recovery in his final outing.
Disappointingly, the Cowboys missed out on postseason qualification by a single win. But still, Vickers said he was impressed by the team’s resilience, and “never-say-die” attitude.
“The thing I’ve learned most this season is when you test the resilience of student athletes, you find out a lot about their character,” Vickers said. “These guys had their feet to the fire, but they didn’t roll over, they rose up.”
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or alex@gunnisontimes.com.)
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