Steers take advantage of opposing mistakes in close-minute win

The lasting memory from Friday night’s season-season opening game will not be the large number of mistakes made by the victorious Steers or their visitors, the Alvarado Indians. It will be the final two offensive plays for the Graham Steers that capped off their 36-35 win on Newton Field.

The first game of the season lends itself to more mistakes than you will typically season in a season. When you add the fact that both the Steers and Indians are young teams, mistakes are inevitable.

The Steers looked strong for the first 14 minutes of the game. This year’s season-opener looked poised to be a repeat of last year’s blowout win. It was not perfect but the Steers were running away with the game. Or, they seemed to be.

The first big mistake in a game filled with them happened in the early to the middle portion of the first quarter. The Steers received the ball to open the game and drove deep into Alvarado territory into the red zone. Instead of walking away with points, Alvarado took over after a botched snap on a field goal attempt.

The first defensive series of the season was a strong one for the Steers. Alvarado could not get past midfield and punted the ball. It was on the Steers’ second offensive drive of the game when they started to take off. Freshman quarterback Ty Thompson found senior wide receiver Ryan Grimsley for a 62-yard touchdown pass.

For the rest of the story, see the Sept. 1 edition of The Graham Leader.