Bucs, Jags compete in 7-on-7 state tournament
Hoover and Spain Park took part in the USA Football 7-on-7 state tournament, held in Hoover on Thursday.
The teams competed in the Class 6A/7A bracket. The event also included a 1A-5A bracket, along with a junior varsity and freshman division.
Hoover-A (the Bucs had two teams in the event) and Spain Park both sat at the top of their respective pools to set the 22-team bracket for the afternoon. Hoover-A notched a 4-1 record with wins over McGill-Toolen, Ramsay, Hewitt-Trussville, and Tuscaloosa County, and a loss to Park Crossing.
Spain Park also went 4-1 in pool play, defeating Opelika, Hoover-B, Clay-Chalkville, and Buckhorn, and losing to Gadsden City.
Hoover-B was 1-4 in pool play, beating Wetumpka before losing to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Spain Park, Opelika, and Gadsden City. Bob Jones knocked the team out, 36-19, in the first game of bracket play.
Bob Jones then advanced to play Hoover-A, a game which the Bucs took in 23-12 decision. In the quarterfinals, they took down Hewitt-Trussville, 26-8. A matchup with Ramsay in the semis also yielded an easy 24-7 victory.
The Bucs played McGill-Toolen in the finals, a team they defeated earlier in the day. But McGill was relentless, and dominated the contest to the tune of a 27-2 score.
“We celebrate the winners. We don’t want to be runner-up. We just got to finish, and that was the biggest thing. We put ourselves in a situation to be there to win the tournament. I was proud of our kids,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said.
Having two teams also allowed a healthy number of players to get repetitions for the Bucs.
“It’s good to get Garrett (Farquhar) out here, getting reps for him and all our quarterbacks. But it’ll reap benefits in the long run,” Niblett said.
Spain Park’s games in bracket play featured plenty of excitement, as its matchup with Carver-Birmingham went into overtime. Carver scored to begin overtime but failed on the conversion. The Jags responded to score a touchdown, and converted the point-after to win the matchup, 22-20.
“We had a good day today,” Spain Park head coach Shawn Raney said. “Bottom line, I want to see our kids compete. Feel the ups and downs of a game, when things go good and things go bad. We got all that today.”
The Jags’ day ended in the next round, as Ramsay pulled off an exciting 26-24 win.
Quarterbacks Hunter Howell and Braxton Barker each took reps throughout the day, and Raney is happy with what he has seen from his signal callers.
“They made huge strides. I think it’s going to go all the way through camp. They’re both great kids. It’s a healthy competition. They root for each other. They help each other. I’m real happy with where both of them are and they’re both getting better each day, I think,” he said.
Both teams have already qualified for the USA Football 7-on-7 National Championship, a three-day tournament to take place July 14-16 in Hoover.