Sports

When the 2018 schedule was released, many people figured the District 3-4A Division II opener between Graham and Iowa Park would decide the district championship.  

After the smoke had settled and the lights were turned off at Newton Field on Friday, it was all Graham from the opening kick. The Steers' defense was able to force five turnovers on night while the offense scored on four of its six posessions in the first 24 minutes of the game on their way to a 42-14 rout of the Iowa Park Hawks.

The Graham varsity boys and girls cross country teams are headed to regionals after having another successful meet on Thursday. The Steers coached by Marcus Morris earned second-place behind Burkburnett. Captain Sam Perkins led the way with a fourth-place finish and a time of 16:27.69. Lawson Wenninger and Hugo Murillo rounded out the top 10 in the varsity division. Evan Ranger, Marcos Herrera, Anthony Carillo and Greg Simental also crossed the finish line to help the varsity. 

Fresh off a bye week, the Steers enter District 3-4A Division II play riding a wave of momentum.

If you’re one of those people who need stats as further proof, here you go. Five games in the Steers are averaging 219 passing yards and 192 rushing yards per game.

Balance.

And it all starts up front. If the offensive line doesn’t do its job, then quarterback Hunter Lanham has no time to make his reads and there’s nowhere for running back Chase Gilmore to run.

The Graham Lady Blues earned a key win at home Friday against a much-improved Vernon team from a year ago. The Lady Blues took all three sets over the Lady Lions 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-13) to remain undefeated in District 6-4A and sit alone in first place with four games left in the regular season schedule.

Even though Graham lost seven seniors from a team that featured Jasmine Sims and Alyssa Hutcheson in 2017, head coach Marci Faulk has been able to reload and be the front-runner again in 6-4A.

The Newcastle Bobcats head into district play with plenty of confidence. Head coach Julian Menchaca’s squad made an impressive statement Friday using a second-half comeback to defeat May 70-49 at home.

The May Tigers have lost just two games in the last two seasons and were dealt their largest defeat since 2016.

J.D. Brice continues to excel this season after rushing for 685 yards and 15 scores in his sophomore season in 2017. The now junior has made a statement on the field already this year and is one of the most talented players in six-man.

With the varsity on their bye off, all three other Graham High School teams took to the field to battle Decatur on Thursday at Newton Field. The games were originally scheduled for Sept. 20 but the varsity game scheduled for the next day was bumped up due to the impeding weather forecast for the day.

The freshman white team fell 16-0 and the junior varsity team fell in a thrilling 33-28 contest. Meanwhile, the freshman Steers handled there business with ease winning 41-20.

The freshman team led by a 14-0 score on a Jonathan Salazar touchdown early in the second quarter.

The Graham boys cross country team won the Graham Invitational last Monday at the Graham Country Club. In the varsity boys 5,000 meter race, Anthony Carillo crossed the finish line first, in 18 minutes 47 seconds. Greg Simental, Marcos Herrera and German Rangel all finished in the top 10. Evan Ranger and Marlene Cervantes each took first in the Junior varsity division, which was the same distance as the varsity run. The girls varsity was led by Kendra Williams, who finished in fourth with a time of 14:30.47, while Khloe Morris followed right behind with a time of 14:43.67.

Graham found itself tested at times and in control at others during a road match at Burkburnett High School on Tuesday night.

But each game ended the same with the Lady Blues earning a 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-21) sweep to extend its hot start to district. Chloe Menard continues to be a force at the net for league foes. The junior had a team-best seven kills to go along with 15 assists, nine digs and three blocks.

The Graham Junior High School football teams settled for mix results in the four contests against Burkburnett this Tuesday.

The 7th-grade A team easily handled the Bulldogs on the road, 42-0, while the 7th-grade B team also earned a shutout, 8-0.

Last Friday’s game in Springtown will be talked about around town for a long time.

The Steers rallied from down 15 points late in the third quarter to hand the Porcupines their first loss of 2018.

“We really grew up in a big way tonight,” said Steers head coach Kenny Davidson following the win. “I remember some double-overtime games against Decatur and some last minute touchdowns against Springtown, but for this team to come out as young as we are and to play this type of caliber team and earn a win is only going to give them a lot of confidence heading into district.”