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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Steers head coach Clay McChristian instructing his players at two-a-day practices Tuesday, Aug. 5. McChristian said the first couple of practices for the Steers are all about refreshing on the basics. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Bobcats practice offensive drills at two-a-days Tuesday, Aug. 5. In this drill the runningback who is being thrown the ball can either take it and run or turn it into a passing play. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Steers quarterback Jace Gill looks for his receiver in passing drills Tuesday, Aug. 5. Gill takes over the spot Ty Thompson held as the leader of the team this season. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Newcastle players practice passing at two-a-days Tuesday, Aug. 5. Bobcats head coach Isiah Archer said that for these practices its all about mastering the fundamentals as players will need to be versatile. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A Steers receiver goes up for a ball in passing drills Tuesday, Aug. 5. Head coach Clay McChristian said the level of preparation for the season with Graham athletes is something he’s always pleased with. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Bobcats special teams unit works on their coverage on kick-offs Tuesday, Aug. 5. Bobcats head coach Isiah Archer said it's enjoyable watching players pick up new skills and add to their arsenals each year.
Fall sports are officially kicking into gear for both Graham and Newcastle. Both schools volleyball teams started practicing and had their first scrimmages this weekend.
Graham tennis kicked off their regular season matches, and both football programs started official two-a-day practices.
Both the Graham Steers and Newcastle Bobcats kicked off their first football practices Monday, Aug. 4, with Graham holding sessions from the mornings into the afternoon and Newcastle holding evening sessions.
For both coaches Clay McChristian of Graham and Isiah Archer of Newcastle, being back in business is always a good feeling.
“It’s been going great,” McChristian said. “We’ve got good numbers, (we’ve got) kids with great attitude and great effort. It’s exactly where we want to be right now.”
For Archer, he gave a more grounded response, saying that while the novelty of first practices has worn off with experience, he still finds excitement in watching the team come in ready to improve.
“It’s good,” Archer said. “I’ve done it for quite a while now, so the newness has kind of worn off, but it’s always exciting to come out and try to see where we left off and see if we can pick up a few things and maybe add a few things that we didn’t quite get to do last year.”
For the Steers, they got right into the swing of things with a full roster.
McChristian said that between the varsity and JV teams they would each spend about half the practice working on offense and defense switching sides at the midway point each day.
For the first set of practices, neither team was in full pads so physicality was limited, however they made sure to jump right into team schematics and make sure everyone was familiar with their roles.
For the Steers, they play full 11-on-11 football with enough capacity for all units of the team. Offensive linemen were practicing soft contact while also understanding where to open holes for the offense in the running game.
Running backs were practicing foot work and quarterbacks and receivers worked on passing and route running.
One thing that has pleased coach McChristian so far during these practices is the level of preparation his players had coming into week one.
“That’s the good thing about Graham and our kids here is the expectation is you come in ready to go,” McChristian said. “Everybody showed up from who we thought was supposed to be here. They always have great attitudes and efforts and they’re coachable and ready to go.”
For the Bobcats things are a little different. Being a smaller school, the team plays primarily six man football, so the team focuses much more on the fundamentals, according to Archer.
The players learn all the basics of passing, receiving, rushing and defense being that there will be more need for versatility and the ability to play multiple positions.
With the teams starting to get a taste of regular season action again, they will get their first chances to test their metal against opposing teams during scrimmages Friday, Aug. 15 and Thursday and Friday, Aug. 21-22.
