Bucs, Jags advance deep into national championship

As the dog days of summer have passed by, Hoover and Spain Park high schools have been busy participating in 7-on-7 football action, in order to prepare for the fall season.

The 7-on-7 summer slate concluded over the weekend in the USA Football 7-on-7 National Championship tournament, hosted in Hoover. 48 teams from 12 states made the trek to take part in the event. 

The Bucs and Jags put forth strong efforts, and left the tournament with enough to feel solid about, as teams begin to hunker down and prepare for the season in the coming weeks.

Hoover earned the No. 2 seed after posting a perfect 6-0 record in pool play, with wins over the likes of Opelika and Austin. The Bucs kicked off double-elimination bracket play with a 21-14 win over Lassiter, Ga., on Friday evening, but lost to Brandon, Miss., 17-16, on Saturday morning, to kick them to the losers bracket.

Following the defeat, Hoover went on an impressive run the rest of the way. A 25-0 shutout win over Austin, followed by a narrow 23-22 victory over Evangel Christian, La., happened on Saturday before a one-hour rain delay. The Bucs then defeated Hewitt-Trussville, 34-33, in a double-overtime thriller. The Huskies went for a two-point conversion to win the game, but the pass fell incomplete, allowing Hoover to advance.

The Bucs claimed back-to-back 10-point victories over Warren Easton, La., and Niceville, Fla., before they ran into the tournament's top seed, Warren Central, Ind., who proved to be too much.

Spain Park concluded pool play with a 2-3-1 mark, tying Centennial, Ga., in its first game, and beating Bob Jones and Hamilton.

The Jags started bracket play on Friday night with a 39-3 pasting of Whitehaven, Tenn., before falling to top seed Warren Central, 28-21. They started hot on Saturday morning, shellacking Lassiter, Ga., 41-2, and defeating Shannon, Miss., 31-26. Spain Park's tournament came to an end in the next round at the hands of Warren Easton.