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Tourney'ing the tables: Panthers rebound, ultimately fall in SQT semifinals
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
WYLIE -- The Lovejoy football team began last week as an alternate for Friday's Wylie 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament.
Uncertain to even be part of the event, the Leopards would justify their eventual entry by coming within a hairline of being in the finals. Tournament host Wylie had other plans, dashing the Leopards' latest bid for a state tournament berth with a 47-45 overtime win in the semifinals.
"I'm really proud of our kids," said Matt Green, Lovejoy head coach. "Being a late addition, they weren't prepared for this, but they came together and said that they wanted to be here."
With overtime contested in an NCAA-style format, Lovejoy's Daniel Sefcik traded blows with the Pirates by accounting for the Leopards' two touchdown receptions on catches of 5 and 2 yards. Wylie quarterback Kameron Kelly was game with two overtime touchdown passes to counter, going one step further by connecting on a two-point conversion pass for the 47-45 victory.
The Leopards had a chance at said conversion on their prior series, but failed.
"The reality is that we're a bit shorthanded right now and our program isn't as big as some of these other ones," Green said. "But I know this: our kids fight and they play hard."
The Leopards' SQT finale culminated against a Wylie squad they will see this fall for their inaugural run through Class 4A with the Leopards and Pirates slated to occupy District 13-4A.
That was a theme for Lovejoy's afternoon in Wylie, with its three prior pool play matchups contested against 4A and 5A opposition.
Slotted in Pool B, replacing Hebron, the Leopards emerged unscathed.
Lovejoy opened the tournament with a 27-6 victory over North Mesquite that featured touchdown receptions by Cullon Greene, Sefcik and Zach Wilkins, plus two interceptions by Steven Larsen.
The Leopards followed with wins over Sachse (27-13) and Lake Dallas (34-33) to complete the pool sweep.
"We played some teams that were super athletic and well coached," Green said. "I thought our team responded well and we had to fight in every game. There wasn't an easy one out there and they battled the whole way."
Of note was Sells quarterbacking the Leopards the whole way while spring ball and 2011 signal caller Zach Saffle saw reps at receiver and defensive back.
"This is good for [Sells]," Green said. "He's going to eventually grow into being a quarterback for us. I'm not sure where he fits right now, but I do know that Zach Saffle is our leader.
"Zach is our quarterback right now."
The efforts were enough to earn the Leopards a spot in Wylie Stadium for the semifinals against the Pirates. They shared the field with Plano East, which also found itself in the semis after enjoying their own unbeaten run through pool play.
"We finally had a full squad out there," said Mark Humble, East offensive coordinator. "We had had some kids out for testing with SATs and ACTs prior. We were much improved with the practice time ... timing-wise between the quarterbacks and receivers, and just the communication on defense was much improved from before."
Last seen on the SQT circuit going winless at Colleyville Heritage, the Panthers turned the tables for a 3-0 run through Pool D, avenging a prior loss via a 31-20 victory over Arlington Martin to seal a spot in the semifinals.
"We felt really good about our kids," Humble said. "A lot of the teams we saw are traditionally good 7-on-7 programs and to win the way we did was great to see."
An interception by East's Devin Tanner scuttled Martin's opening drive and quarterback Mario Smalls took control from there, firing off four straight completions capped with a touchdown pass to Ricky Ilodianya.
Smalls added four more touchdown throws with Patrick Hunt, Anthony Maioriello and Christian Sandlin snagging said scores. The East defense helped weather a 20-13 halftime deficit, opening the second half with a Mike Miller interception and holding the Warriors scoreless over the final 20 minutes.
Wins over West Mesquite (47-44) and Mesquite Poteet (50-44) preceded the Martin victory, dealing the Panthers a semifinal tilt against fellow unbeaten Mesquite, who dashed East's bid for state with a 48-39 victory.
"You've got to play who you're set up against," Humble said. "It's no different than playoff football and Mesquite was very good. They're young, went two rounds deep last year and have a lot of returning starters. They just made one more play than us and were able to pull it out.
"It was a great learning experience and I'm glad we were able to play a high-caliber team like them."
Wildcats end SQT debut at 1-2
With its past two 7-on-7 summer league outings rained out, Plano Senior was just excited for the chance to compete in Friday's SQT -- the Wildcats' first of the summer.
Slotted in Pool C, the Wildcats went 1-2.
Plano opened the afternoon with a come-from-behind 30-26 win over state qualifier Wylie East before dropping matchups against Jesuit (40-39) and pool winner Mesquite (49-40).
"I think they were all excited to be out here today," said Tank Stallings, Plano 7-on-7 head coach. "We haven't had many practices, so with what we were given today we did great and I feel good about the steps we'll be taking for the rest of the summer."
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