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Practice Time is Over: 7-on-7 football season nearing its conclusion
Kelsey Kruzich / Staff Photo
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
The end is nigh for the 7-on-7 football season.
The 64-team field for the Division I FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Championship Tournament has been finalized and play will begin Friday, July 20 at Texas A&M University in College Station. Participants will be divided into four-team pools and the tournament will open with each playing the other three teams from its pool in consecutive games separated by two hours.
The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the championship bracket, while the bottom two will be sent to the consolation bracket. After the 32-team championship bracket has been whittled down to two, the championship game will be played at Kyle Field at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 21.
McKinney North won't have a presence at the tournament, as it didn't attempt to qualify. The Bulldogs ignored the State Qualifying Tournaments teams used to secure a place at College Station, instead focusing on league 7-on-7 play, which head football coach Mike Fecci said gave his players everything they needed.
“Number one, [7-on-7] gets them out here and gets them running around,” he said. “Number two, it starts getting them a little more acclimated to this weather. Then, really the main thing, is they get to get out and compete against somebody else. Anytime you get kids out competing, you're going to get better, just from that. That's why it's a good deal for us.”
The Bulldogs spent their time this summer playing in a league against McKinney Boyd, Princeton and Melissa. The group has been together several years, and since games are hosted at Boyd, it's easy for North players to participate. Two teams from the league, Princeton and Melissa, will be making the trip to the state tournament to play in the Division II bracket.
While he'll be staying home, Bulldogs quarterback Ben Dutze was among those who gained valuable experience from 7-on-7 action. The incoming junior has been pegged as North's starting quarterback after seeing extremely limited playing time as a backup behind Hunter Walling last season. In his only appearance, Dutze completed 2-of-3 pass attempts for 21 yards in a 41-7 loss to Rockwall-Heath.
“I think [Dutze] has done a really good job this summer,” Fecci said. “He's gotten better each week, and having to call his own plays helps with that. He's getting a better grasp of the offense and he's throwing the ball well.”
High school football coaches are prohibited from coaching during 7-on-7 games, so it's up to players, and quarterbacks in particular, to direct the action, which amounts to just a hint of what they'll see in the fall.
Dutze will be the fourth quarterback the Bulldogs have cycled through in as many years. After two years with Brenton Griffin at the helm ended in 2009, they had dual-threat Brylen Williams under center in 2010, when they just missed the playoffs, before Walling took over for his senior season and guided the team to a 6-5 record and its first playoff appearance since 2006.
With limited time to develop as a varsity player, 7-on-7 competition has been especially useful for Dutze.
“We're not coaching them at all,” Fecci said. “They have to run the offense; they have to call the plays; they have to make decisions, if it's third-and-three, what do they want to run? It helps them to understand our offense even more.”
How well the Bulldogs skill players know their game will be on display when North opens the 2012 football season against Carrollton Newman Smith at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 30 at Carrollton's Standridge Stadium.
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