Eight Big Country Teams Head to State 7 on 7
ABILENE, Texas — The Abilene area heat has been brutal this week, but, speaking as an 11-year resident of College Station, this Abilene heat ain’t got nothing on the heat plus humidity in store at State 7 on 7 starting on Thursday.
But teams adjust, and no doubt the eight teams from the Big Country headed to state will too.
Division 2 and 3 pool play begins Thursday, while Division 1 teams have to wait until Friday.
All Division 2 and 3 teams will play in a single-elimination championship bracket starting Friday morning. The top two teams from each Division 1 pool will play in the championship bracket and the bottom two will play in the consolation bracket on Saturday morning.
Abilene High QB Brayden Henry/Big Country Blitz Photo
Abilene High is the lone Division 1 team to advance and will play in Pool C against Clear Springs, Bryan Rudder and Round Rock.
Eagle running back Bam Rashaw says that building chemistry on offense is the biggest part of playing 7 on 7. “It builds the chemistry real, real good. This year we’ve been getting close, last year it took us a little while to click. This year we’ve been clicking during 7 on 7 and having a good time.”
The Warbirds qualified for state for the second year in a row and 22nd time in program history.
Abilene High RB Bam Rashaw/Big Country Blitz Photo
Brownwood and Clyde are state bound in Division 2 and both got placed in pretty tough pools. Luckily, they are quarterbacked by two of the best signal callers in the Big Country in Ike Hall and Blake Carr.
Brownwood QB Ike Hall/Big Country Blitz Photo
The Lions will play in Pool C against Davenport, Sunnyvale and 2022 7 on 7 Division 2 state champion Hitchcock, while Clyde will battle Celina, Hamshire-Fannett and Lorena in Pool G.
“I love 7 on 7,” said Carr. “I think everyone that plays it can agree. It’s just a great time. Last year we made a pretty good run, we went 2-2 and were projected to go 0-3. It felt good to go out there and beat some teams we weren’t supposed to and it definitely helps develop chemistry with some new receivers and then maintain that chemistry with receivers we have coming back.”
Clyde will play at state for just the third time, while Brownwood has made every State 7 on 7 tournament since 2000 — 23 straight years. The Lions won the championship in 2010.
Five area schools will play in the Division 3 championship: Albany, Eastland, Hawley, Merkel and Stamford.
The Lions are College Station bound for the third time and will face Ganado, Harmony and Sudan in Pool B.
“We’ll just get some chemistry down and break in the new quarterback and a lot of new incoming sophomores,” said Albany running back and linebacker Adam Hill.
Eastland draws Childress, Groveton and Three Rivers in Pool A, Hawley faces Elkhart, Sonora and Sunray in Pool C, Stamford joins Pool E with Dilley, Gunter and Lexington and Merkel will play in Pool G against Brazos, Chilton and Henrietta.
The Mavericks are in the state tournament for the third straight season and are making their seventh overall appearance.
Hawley has made it four times overall and in each of the last three seasons. Getting extra reps at state can only help with Keagan Ables taking over for Rodey Hooper at quarterback this season. “Keagan’s dad’s the coach so he’s known the whole playbook since he was in middle school,” said Hawley receiver and cornerback Chandlin Myers, who is committed to play at Texas Tech after high school. “It’s going to be a lot different this year, but definitely be amazing.”
Merkel is playing at state the third time, but first since 2012. They won the Stamford Qualifier, which was actually played at Jim Ned due to wet field conditions in Stamford.
Speaking of the Bulldogs, they have a new head coach, kind of, in Wayne Hutchinson and will be at state for the second year in a row and second time overall.
