Ethan Hiser (2), Jordan Dies (84), Hubbell Allen (34) and Quent Kramer (31) gang up to tackle Andrew Murga of Borger in Friday's game. The Steers won 42-14 to claim the bidistrict championship.
Steers collect bidistrict title
by By Clay Stewart
(Posted 11/17/2009 03:01 pm)
sports@grahamleader.com
The Graham Steers scored early and often Friday in a 42-14 victory over the Borger Bulldogs in a bidistrict playoff game at Jones Stadium on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock.
“I’m excited,” coach Brad McCoy said. “Anytime you win in the playoffs and get a gold ball it’s exciting. They were not bad. They were 7-3. We’re going to have to play better to win the next one. They were better than we thought they were. They were stronger and more physical and definitely threw it more than we thought.”
The Steers didn’t take long to get on the board. After the defense held for a three-and-out, the Steers struck first. After taking over at the Borger 37, Graham took seven plays to go 68 yards. A five-yard penalty for delay of game started things off, but it didn’t deter the offense. Garrett Spears caught a 25-yard pass on the first play and the Steers were off and running. A 19-yard pass to Dylan Fulford on the second play set the Steers up with first and 10 at the Borger 24. Graham continued to move the ball effectively until Cameron Bailey finished off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Karl Baker added the extra point to make it a 7-0 game.
The Steers defense stepped up on the next Borger drive. Chris Harrison had a sack on the first play. The Bulldogs completed a 14-yard pass on the second to set up with third and one. An incomplete pass brought up fourth down, and the Bulldogs decided to fake a punt.
Colton Monk broke through the line and stopped the runner short and the Steers took over at the Borger 29.
On the third play, Case McCoy found Fulford from 44 yards away to give the Steers a 13-0 lead.
But Borger had some life left. On the third play of the next drive, Trent Kirklin found Garrett Irwin over the middle. Irwin scampered 77 yards for the touchdown, outrunning several Graham defenders in the process, to cut the lead to 13-7.
The Steers had their next drive stall twice, but each time Borger gave them another opportunity. The drive stalled after three plays and the Steers punted on fourth and one. A running into the kicker penalty gave the Steers a first down and another chance.
Graham ran three more plays and punted again on fourth and nine. This time, the Bulldogs fumbled at their own 28.
Brian Sides fell on the ball and the Steers had a third life.
After a defensive holding call put the ball at the 18, the Steers ran only three plays before scoring again. Conner Higgins scored on a 16-yard pass from McCoy over the middle to make it a 21-7 game with 2:12 left in the first quarter.
Borger took the ball in the second quarter and marched down the field.
The drive ended at the Graham 29 when the Bulldogs were forced to punt on fourth and 22. Hoping to pin the Steers deep, the Bulldogs dropped back to kick. The punt was shanked and traveled only seven yards to set the Steers up at their own 22.
The Steers were forced to punt but the Bulldogs ran only three more plays before giving it up. Quent Kramer stepped in front of a pass from Kirklin and returned it to midfield.
The Steers drove half the field in 10 plays for another score. Garrett Spears caught a 15-yard pass from McCoy at the 50 second mark of the half to put the game out of reach 28-7.If it wasn’t out of reach, it certainly was after the first play of the second half. Bailey caught a screen pass from McCoy and sprinted 60 yards for the score to make it 35-7. At that point, the Steers offense took their proverbial foot off the throat.
“I think our team let up,” coach McCoy said. “I think we let up and looked around and said, ‘We’re playing in this nice stadium, so let’s enjoy it.’”
Neither team scored again in the third quarter as they exchanged punts and each turned it over on downs once. At the 3:04 mark of the fourth, the Bulldogs punched one in to cap an 11-play, 69-yard drive in 5:42.
Kirklin finished the drive with a one-yard run to cut the lead to 35-14.
But the Steers showed they weren’t done. Spencer Sims took the kickoff and ran 68 yards down the right sideline for the touchdown to give the Steers their final score and make it 42-14 game.
“It was finally open for me,” Sims said. “I’ve been wanting one all year.”
McCoy finished unofficially with 249 yards on 16 of35 passing. Bailey led the team in rushing and receiving with two catches for 71 yards and 12 carries for 37 yards. He had two touchdowns in the game.
The Steers move on to play Monahans at Sweetwater at 7 p.m. Friday.
Brian Sides falls on a fumble in the second quarter. The Steers will face Monahans on Friday at Sweetwater.
