Comeback falls short as Steers’ season ends

Graham was put to the test in its area round match-up with West Plains and came out on the wrong side of things with a 35-17 loss to end the team’s season Friday, Nov. 17.

Playing at a neutral site in Childress, the Steers fought hard the entire game, but the Wolves’ offense combined with a handful of Steers’ miscues led to the close of Graham’s season.

The Steers (10-2) trailed at halftime by a close score of 14-10 to the Wolves (11-1), but the attempt to mount a comeback in the second half was foiled by a solid West Plains defense and a few Graham turnovers.

In stark contrast to how both these teams started most of their games this season, both squads took a while to get going. On each team’s first two possessions they ran three-plays-and-outs and had to punt the ball away.

It wasn’t until West Plains’ third possession that the Wolves earned the first first down of the game for either team. That drive culminated in the Wolves getting on the board first on a 7-yard touchdown run to take an early 7-0 lead.

As the Steers tried to answer, they coughed up their first turnover of the game on a fumble after a pass that would have gone for a first down. The Graham defense held firm on the next drive, however, and gave the offense another chance.

Graham tied the game up early in the second quarter on a drive where junior running back Rylan Monsey took the bulk of the carries before junior quarterback Ty Thompson connected with senior receiver Peyton Kinman for a 20-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.

But Graham’s defense struggled to contain the West Plains run game and the Wolves retook the lead on their next drive on an 18-yard touchdown run.

Just before halftime, the Steers put together a long drive but couldn’t punch it in the end zone and had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from junior kicker Ozzy Trejo. This was the second time all season Graham went into halftime trailing — the only other time being their other loss on the year to Hirschi.

As the Steers tried to mount a comeback in the second half, the defense began to falter and the offense couldn’t get out of its own way at times.

Graham couldn’t get anything going on its first possession of the second half and had to punt. West Plains blocked the kick and nearly ran it back for a touchdown but the Steers stopped the Wolves at the 3-yard line. It didn’t matter as the Wolves punched it in one play later to extend the lead to 21-10.

On Graham’s next possession, Thompson completed a pass to Kinman, then Monsey carried the ball and lost a fumble to West Plains. With excellent field position again, the Wolves drove down and scored on an 18-yard rush to go up 28-10.

Before the end of the third quarter, the Wolves put up another touchdown after Graham’s offense went three-and-out again. Another 3-yard touchdown run and West Plains had its biggest lead of the game at 35-10.

Early in the third quarter, Graham’s offense began to click and Monsey scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to cut into the deficit. The Steers’ defense then held the Wolves on their next drive and gave Graham the ball back with a little over nine minutes to go in the game.

As the Steers drove down the field they made it to the 2-yard line. After a timeout from West Plains, Graham tried a trick play where Monsey took the snap directly, faked like he was running and tossed it to a receiver who slipped to the back of the end zone.

Instead, Monsey didn’t get enough air under the ball and the pass was intercepted by West Plains in the end zone which forced a touchback.

Any momentum Graham might have been building seemed to leave the stadium at that point. Unfortunately, West Plains was able to grind out the ball on the ground and chew up the rest of the clock to hold onto the 35-17 win.

“We battled back that second half, we knew we needed to score some points and we got close at times,” head coach Ken Davidson said. “...The turnovers really got us, that's a big part of the game.”

The Steers ended the season with a 10-2 record overall while claiming a bi-district championship win. Graham’s players had a lot of success throughout the season and will look to keep that up in the years to come.

“It was a successful season and we hate that we got out right now,” Davidson said. “But at the same time…we're just proud of them.”