Pettus, Trejo earn Athletes of the Week

District play for Graham’s soccer teams began this past week as the Steers and Lady Blues both took on the Mineral Wells Rams and Lady Rams.

Each Graham team has had varying degrees of success so far this season, but what matters now are the games ahead. The Steers and Lady Blues both earned wins over Mineral Wells this week in different ways, with the boys pulling out the win in a penalty kick shootout while the girls dominated from start to finish.

Olivia Pettus of the Lady Blues and Ozzy Trejo of the Steers earned selections as Athletes of the Week for their roles in helping their teams secure huge wins.

Olivia Pettus, midfielder, Lady Blues soccer

The Graham Lady Blues soccer team has gotten out to one of their best starts in the entire history of the young program this season and Pettus has been one of the big reasons why.

The junior midfielder plays a critical role in the offensive attack of this team as she helps make everyone around her better. She possesses a strong ability to move the ball down the field and get herself and others in position to score.

The Lady Blues have had some gargantuan victories this season, with wins by scores of 11-0, 10-0 and 5-0. Pettus has racked up the goals for herself but she’s also assisted on a number of them for others.

In Graham’s district-opening win over Mineral Wells, Pettus contributed to three of the team’s four goals in the 4-0 victory. She made two excellent passes in the box to set up teammates to score, and near the end of the first half, she took a penalty kick and scored the goal with ease.

No matter the opponent, location or the score in the game, Pettus gives 100% effort to everything she does. Though she’s only a junior, she will continue to be a big part of this soccer program through the rest of this season and into the next.

“Olivia is a great player and person, she is an absolute workhorse. She has so much grit and determination on the field that leads to much of her success,” head coach Casey Weil said. “Olivia is extremely coachable, she is always striving to learn and better herself and others. She is a great player who is just getting better and better every time she steps on the field.”

Ozzy Trejo, goalkeeper, Steers soccer

The art of goalkeeping is relatively new to Trejo, but he’s making it look like something he’s done most of his life. The junior goalkeeper, who is also the kicker on the football team, hasn’t been playing the position for very long but he’s making a difference.

Trejo broke his leg while kicking field goals before his freshman soccer season and missed a lot of time because of that. When he returned, he told head coach Tim Wankowicz he wanted to play, but that he wanted to play goalkeeper.

“I said, ‘All right.’ So he came up to play summer league a couple times and he made some saves, and I was like, ‘Dude, (you) just won yourself a spot.’” Wankowicz said.

Since that time, Trejo has only improved with every game and practice and it all made a difference in the Steers’ district-opening win over Mineral Wells. The two teams tied in regulation 2-2, but Graham easily could have been down more if not for some of Trejo’s saves.

“He made one mistake tonight, but he recovered from it a lot faster than he's recovered from other mistakes and he made some hellacious saves,” Wankowicz said after the shootout win.

Then during the penalty kick shootout, Trejo had a remarkable save on one of the Rams’ shots and he had the opportunity to win the game as the final shot-taker for the Steers.

The junior confused the Mineral Wells goalkeeper and easily put a shot past him for the big win.

“Ozzy’s phenomenal, you’re not going to find a harder worker,” Wankowicz said. “...He’s a phenomenal kid, he’s a great student, he’s a great athlete, he’s a great leader…and he’s a top notch competitor.”