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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Parker Hale runs away from defenders to the endzone for a touchdown Saturday, May 24 against Benbrook. Hale erupted in the second half of that matchup with two scores on back-to-back drives. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jace Gill finds Brody Martin on a pass Saturday, May 24. Gill passed for four touchdowns in the Steers matchup against Benbrook. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Thomason Burkett picks off a pass for another touchdown Saturday, May 24 against the Lubbock Christian Eagles. Burkett picked off passes on back to back drives to secure a 19-13 win in the matchup.
After opening their 7on7 schedule in Fort Worth, the Steers traveled to Mineral Wells for their week two matchups.
The event took place Saturday, May 24 and Graham once again had another shot to test their metal against regional rivals.
While the team once again didn’t qualify for the championship game, they certainly had a stronger day finishing the afternoon 2-1.
Overall, this 7on7 league is about building team chemistry and player development and the Steers were consistently better than they were last week.
Their most complete game so far took place against the Benbrook Bobcats.
Jace Gill was sharp the whole contest, throwing for four touchdown passes en route to a dominant 35-12 win.
Other standouts from their opener matches in Fort Worth also had consistently great performances this go around as well.
Brody and Bryce Martin once again formed a dynamic duo in the passing game.
The former connected with Gill three times on the opening drive resulting in the games first score, that latter also had a touchdown of his own later in the first half and each of them had successful one point conversions.
In the second half, it was all the Parker Hale show. Hale caught two long touchdown passes on back to back drives which blew the game out of the water to cap off the dominant win.
“I think it just clicked,” Coach ZT Burkett said. “I think it’s just them waking up and getting back in the groove and the rhythm of it.”
Their third matchup against Lubbock Christian was a bit closer. The offensive fireworks weren’t exactly present in this game. However, if there’s one area that drastically improved over the course of the day, it was the defense.
After falling behind 6-0 to the Eagles, Gill was able to tie the score with a touchdown on the next drive 6-6.
However, it was Thomason Burkett who took over from there. Burkett picked off two passes on consecutive drives for touchdowns resulting in the final 19-13 score.
“We got some guys back off the baseball team, that helped a little bit,” Burkett said. “It’s good to finally have that whole group together.”
Unfortunately for the Steers, their undoing was losing to the Dumas Demons in their opening match which led to Dumas actually qualifying for the championship match over Graham.
The team will have another chance to test their metal in games Saturday, May 31 at Brownwood High School.
