Five years have come and gone since the last time the Graham Steers defeated the Springtown Porcupines. But Friday, Sept. 1, the Steers not only beat the Porcupines but they handled them in all facets of the game, winning by a score of 36-15.
The last time Graham beat Springtown came in the Fall 2018 season when the Steers pulled out a close win 35-29. But in this year’s matchup, the home team Steers set the tone from the first drive of the game.
Following a five-set loss to Iowa Park last week, Graham’s Lady Blues hoped for a bounceback win against visiting Springtown. Graham pushed the game to five sets but again came away with the loss to the Lady Porcupines 2-3 by scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22 and 7-15.
The Lady Blues have struggled in opening sets recently as it takes them time to develop their rhythm and get things working. The same happened in this match as Springtown used a powerful offense and accurate ball placement to take a 16-8 lead, their biggest of the opening set.
The Newcastle Ladycats volleyball team played a close match but ultimately came up short Tuesday, Aug. 29 against the Breckenridge Lady Bucks. The home team Ladycats fell in five sets to the visiting Lady Bucks 25-19, 24-26, 16-25, 26-24 and 9-15.
Newcastle got off to a strong start in the first set with a dominant offensive performance both from the service line and from the hitters at the net. Senior Mya Cabrera excelled in the first set win as she tallied eight kills and a service ace.
The Graham Lady Blues came two points shy of pulling off a big win at Iowa Park but ultimately came away with the loss in five sets Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The Lady Blues put up a fight all night despite not being 100% on their game and forced the Lady Hawks up against the wall before falling short. Graham lost 2-3 by scores of 12-25, 26-24, 26-24, 24-26 and 13-15.
“It’s just frustrating because I think it was our match to win,” head coach Marci Faulk said. “We had crucial mistakes at big moments.”
As all fall sports in Graham have officially gotten underway, it’s time once again for The Leader’s Athletes of the Week. This week’s recipients have been selected for their play during the week of Thursday, Aug. 24 through Wednesday, Aug. 30.
In this first week’s selection, a pair of seniors from Graham High earned the honors for their outstanding performances in their respective sports. Olga Morales from the Lady Blues volleyball team and Peyton Kinman of the Steers football team were selected.
Olga Morales, outside hitter, Lady Blues
Graham’s tennis team got back in the win column Tuesday with a team win over Old High. The Steers and Lady Blues combined to defeat the Coyotes 11-8 to earn their first win since the first match of the season.
In this match, the Lady Blues found a bit more success than the Steers. In boys singles, Luke Qualls won 8-4 and Barron Burrows won 8-2 while the rest of the Steers took losses. The boys doubles teams played some tough matches and pulled out wins in two of the three. Scott Grimes and Silas Yoder won 8-6 while Burrows and Hudson Crawford won 8-5.
Offense was the name of the game for the Graham Steers in their season opening win over the Bowie Jackrabbits. The visiting Steers routed the home team Jackrabbits 56-14 and moved to 1-0 on the season.
The Graham Steers junior varsity football teams got their seasons underway Thursday, Aug. 24 with opening games against the Bowie Jackrabbits.
Due to the large number of freshmen this year, Graham’s coaches created an additional team to ensure opportunities for everyone. Graham has a freshman team, a JV White, a JV team and varsity. The Steers’ JV White and JV team both earned wins against Bowie at Newton Field.
JV White win 12-6
For the third time in the last month — and the second time officially — the Graham Lady Blues matched up with the Boyd Lady Jackets in Boyd, but left with a loss.
After facing each other in the Lu Allen Memorial Tournament in Graham the previous weekend, where Boyd earned the win there 2-0, the Lady Blues looked for revenge at Boyd but came up short in a 3-0 sweep by the Lady Jackets. Graham played each set close but lost 20-25, 21-25 and 19-25.
The Graham Steers and Lady Blues tennis team came up short over their last two matches as they suffered a close loss against Stephenville, 10-9, and fell to Iowa Park, 18-1.
Due to the intense heat, some of the individual matches in both contests were shortened. Some matches only required six games to win while others went to eight.
GHS loss vs. Stephenville
