By Logan Gray 

Soccer season has finally kicked back to a start. Despite having our head coach  deployed, the Pirates are looking good this season under Coach Adrean’s supervision as well as Coach Caldwell’s. They've been practicing day in and day out perfecting their footwork. 

Senior Andrew Riley recently signed with McPherson College, for a soccer scholarship. “How do you feel this season is going to go Andrew?” “ We’re a very young team with a lot of untouched potentials. I feel that if we get the chemistry down we've got a great chance to go deep into playoffs and really put in work this season.” “ What is your opinion on Coach Adrean and do you think the change in coach is going to affect this season?” “ I think Coach Adrean is doing a great job, he's experienced, he's coached multiple games before Coach Adrean knows what he's doing and he's got my full confidence.”

This season so far the boys and the girls' varsity have played 6 games, the boys with a record of 3-3 and the girls with a record of 2-4. The boys and girls varsity teams feel they’ll be on a path to success this season under Coach Adrean and Coach Caldwell.

by Brookie Balido

Listen up PHS, our baseball team is taking charge! Now, what is baseball? Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players, taking turns batting and fielding. Baseball is played on a large field with four bases in a square, positioned like a diamond, whose outlines mark the course a runner must take to score. Our baseball team is coached by Ronnie Sockey, Ryan Dill, and Justin Payne. The team has a total of sixteen players. Our seniors are Kix Fenton, Wesley Garrett, and Logan Walker. The juniors are Dax Collins, Aiden Sockey, Holden Mattox, Calloway Warren, and Colby Bell. The sophomores are Pierce Ballard, Hudson Burdick, Kord Fenton, Jagger Dodson, Garrett Finchum, and Robert Farmer. Lastly, our only two freshman players are Michael Dealo and Will Jordan. Sophomore Hudson Burdick has goals for this season. “I’ve been playing baseball since I was just five years old. I plan on playing my junior year and one of the main goals I have is to help the team go to the state tournament.” Junior Calloway Warren has bigger achievements for this season. “I have been playing baseball since I was three years old. I’m going to improve by being great in the big moments when the team needs a spark to get something going. It feels great getting to play with my friends, we always encourage each other when things get rough on the field.” Let’s encourage our young Pirates and swing this ball out of the park!

By Brookie Balido

PHS golf is taking a swing. Golf is a cross-country game in which a player strikes a small ball with various clubs from a series of starting points (teeing grounds) into a series of holes on a course. The player who holes their ball in the fewest strokes wins. Golf season starts on March 20th and they are preparing for a tournament on March 27th in Miami, Oklahoma at Peoria Ridge Golf Course. There is a total of fifteen members: six girls, and nine boys. The girls are Allison Mattox, Aubrey Duke, Jaylee Tackett, Traegan Ballard, Abby Dushel, and Preslie House. The boys are Connor Whitworth, Ethan McBee, Nate Jordan, Wyatt Reece, Connor May, Caston Qualls, Brady Wahl, Westin Archey, and Kallen Ramirez. The golf team is coached by Jarrett Lowimore. In tournaments or games, the team starts it off usually at 8 or 9 a.m. and it lasts about an entire day. Sophomore Jaylee Tackett has been playing golf for two years. She is hoping for improvement with her team. “We’re getting better as we keep on practicing. We are making better progress than last year”. Junior Connor Whitworth has been playing golf since he was three but has played for the school since sixth grade. Not many people have much of an interest with this sport, but he has a positive saying about this, “You should always give it a try. There are a lot of people who start playing golf later in their life and I wish they would do it sooner cause they would enjoy it more.” Good luck for your first tournament Pirates!

By Brookie Balido

Ladies and gentlemen, pull back your hair and tie up your laces because track season has begun! Matt Aguero coaches the track team. According to Aguero, he’s looking forward to the group attending bigger track meets. This shows the athletes what stacked-up competition they have against other schools. The team has already attended two indoor meets that should help them strategize in March. Junior Tyler Baker has high hopes for the season. “I hope to break Stihl Snyder’s mile record as well as the 800m record by the end of the season, we’ve got some competitive meets coming up in March-May running in Van Buren, Tahlequah, and OU. This should be a fun season”. Stihl Snyder looks to make history in his final season. “I’m looking forward to our 4x 800 relay, we are all in good shape and I think we can break the school record, and finish well at state. My expectations are to break my record in the mile, and break the 2-mile record.” Let’s get ready to cheer on our Pirates!

By Brookie Balido

Basketball season is halfway through. We may have lost a few players along the way, but the rest have stayed solid and improved since the beginning. This year's coaches are Ronnie Sockey, Kory Kinslow, and Ryan Dill. The team competed in the Henryetta Tournament, this event lasted only three days and our boys did their best to pull through, in the end, they won one out of three games. The team has been working on layups, being aggressive with the ball, physicality, defense, and most importantly, communication. The team just finished competing in the Leflore County Tournament. It’s been about 91 years since it started. The tournament started on January 16th and ended on the 21st. Our boys won 5th place overall when they went against Panama on the 21st. Champ Downs, the team's only senior, has found reflection this season, “I have been looking forward to having fun, and just playing my best game for my last year of high school basketball. We have improved since the start of the season, we have started playing better as a team, and we have a good second string that puts in work when we need them to. The thing I will miss the most is getting to hang with the guys, I guarantee I will be crying after the last game we play.” Let’s continue cheering on our boys!

By Eli Solomon

The Winter Guard was quite busy this weekend; on Saturday, the 21st, they had a showcase at Haskell."It was a wonderful experience. We are excited to use the feedback to improve,” says coach Ashely Moore. They will use what they learned at this showcase at their upcoming show on the 4th in Broken Arrow. This season, they will have two other events: February 25th at Catoosa and March 25th at Mustang. In between shows, the guard works on perfection"We have been practicing non-stop. On our counts, movements, dancing, and facial expressions. It's our senior year for some of us, and we wanna make it count." says senior Mackenzie Lingenfelter, Payton Stover believes that this hard work is going to pay off " Performance-wise, we have improved a lot from last year. Overall, I think our show is going to be very successful." I do not doubt that our winter guard will let their flags fly high!

PHS Dance/POM

By Shea Adams 

Dance/POM has performed at pep rallies and games with two hip-hop-style dances. At the last home game, they did a team routine, “It’s like a combination of different styles in dances in one dance,” Mrs. Hemphill explains. They danced to“Bring 'em out” by T.I. and “Fight Night (remix)” by Migos Ft Plies, Jeremih, Tyga, Problem, Busta Rhymes & Chi Hoover. “Last Monday, we started the fourth routine just for POM, which we hopefully get down and be able to perform in the next few weeks.” Their routine is called “Boom Boom Pow!’ to the song “Boom Boom Pow!”. “We’re working on our game day routine, which is to a Beyonce song “Land of a Thousand” and the fight song,” Kimber Greer. On November fifth, The POM squad will be traveling to Heritage Fall in Oklahoma City to compete in a game-day competition. Mrs. Hemphill has a lot to say about an upcoming event, “They have a three-minute window, where they perform two different sideline routines and end it with the school fight song, and they transition between each routine within that three-minute window.” That will be the first OSSAA competition they compete in. Later this year, they will have a team Christmas party with all sorts of fun, including scavenger hunts, fun games, and snacks. Cheer for our POM squad, and dance like no one is watching! 

By Brookie Balido

The boat is still rowing! Poteau lost against Broken Bow on October 13th. However, our Pirates redeemed themselves when they beat Sallisaw, scoring 46-7. It’s crazy how one game can affect how they play together as a team.  “I think whenever we played Broken Bow, we didn't play with as much intensity as we did against Sallisaw, and we kept making little mistakes against Broken Bow and it was causing bigger problems,” says Senior Jace Hall  “Whereas against Sallisaw, we broke everything down personally for ourselves and the team, then the offense picked it up and practiced this week because we know would be a big win for us against Sallisaw come that Friday.” Sometimes we all need a little push to get our way to victory or where we would like to be. But for every teacher, boss, or coach, there are expectations. Junior Darion Brooks says that the coaches expect the team to be “respectful” and “coachable”. “Our standards may be higher than other programs, but so is our ceiling. I think there are times where we get rowdy, but from a team standpoint we work hard.”  Speaking of coaches, I asked Coach Odom what the plan is for football since we’ve come this far, and what we should look forward to this season and the next to come. “Big two last District games coming up. Instrumentally to finish strong and get the highest playoff seed possible and maybe home playoff games”, says Odom, “Not big changes, just concentrate on getting better with what we do and putting the players in the best position to be successful.” Now that we know what to expect, let’s continue to cheer on our Pirates! We’re off to the playoffs!

By Brookie Balido

In Poteau, there is nothing quite like football. Poteau won state back in 2019 and they are determined to get there again. The team has practices during and after school. The coaches are teaching boys to be the best they can be and strive to win. Poteau may have amazing coaches, but they also have great captains. The captains are supposed to help the younger players, boost team spirit, and help lead the team to victory. The three prominent captains are seniors Kix Fenton, Wesley Garrett, and Will Restine. On the field or in practice, these three are helping their teammates become the best they can be. “Always try your hardest and don’t take a day off because it will be gone in the blink of an eye,” says Kix. “Enjoy it while it last, it’ll be gone before you know it,” says Wesley. “Don’t quit, work hard, and do your best. It’ll go by fast once you start, so enjoy your years,” says Will. Poteau has won five games out of six. We are officially halfway through the season and it’s been a wild one. We never know what's going to happen next, so let’s continue to cheer on our Pirate team!

By  Keily Morales 

Cross country season is getting intense, more intense than the other seasons, but it may be for a good reason. The team is doing great and moving up in the 4A ranks. They have already run up some hills, did some speed workouts, and some long runs in the past months. Coach Aguero pushes them to be their best and makes a team of people who want to be there rather than a team of people who need a placeholder for spring sports. They had a hard summer program and it worked out for the better. In fact, they have to run in 100 degree weather. They have beaten some of their personal records, and they’re excited to see how they will do in regionals and state. 

They won their home meet at Carl Albert and the Pumpkin Patch meet at Wilburton. They are having a meet this weekend and it decides if they go to regionals and state. The best way students can support the XC team is by giving them as much support as possible. This past weekend, the teams faced stiff competition at Fayetteville’s Chile Pepper 5K Race. Battling not only themselves but hundreds of competitors from all across the region in each race, Poteau XC nailed more than a dozen PR times. 

By Shea Adams 

PHS POM starts the year strong, with Leslie Hemphill as the coach for five years. This year is the biggest team with 21 squad members and a mascot. According to Mrs. Hemphill, “As always I expect them to put on some awesome routines at football games, and give it their all.” The dances were choreographed by Morgan Lane, seniors, and Mrs. Hemphill herself. Brooklyn Latham, who has been on the squad for three years, has much to say about her teammates. ”All of them are just so hard working, especially with the other sports they do like softball and basketball, and I love them all like family,” the POM squad performs at home & away games, pep rallies, and competitions. All upcoming events, as of now, are on every Friday.  There are a few tricks and moves up their sleeve this year so make sure to watch, cheer, and dance!

By Brookie Balido

Get up! Get loud! show your Pirate pride! In Poteau, there is no football game without the varsity cheer squad. This team is coached by Valerie Odom. There is a total of fourteen members on the team. Senior Summer West has been doing cheer since 5th grade. She started cheering in mini cheer clinics whenever she started school. Summer started cheering because it was the only sport that sparked any interest in her. The two main things she learned over her years in cheer are leadership skills and teamwork. Summer thinks that being able to work together and being able to trust each other is the key to being a successful team. When the younger members need help she tries to give them advice and help them the best she can when needed. Summer’s most memorable moment on the team is the bus rides to and from the away football games. Throughout her years of cheering, Mrs. Odom has encouraged her to do better and be supportive. When I asked Summer if there is advice or inspiration you want to give to young girls or boys that want to cheer she said, “The best advice I can give to upcoming cheerleaders is to trust the process and everything will come together eventually.”