Five Teams Whose Stock is UP After State 7-on-7 Tournament
Beaumont United Timberwolves' run to the quarterfinals, Pilot Point reaching semifinals in first State 7-on-7 Tournament since 2016, opened eyes across Texas.
Andy Howard has pulled off one of the state’s most underrated rebuilds at this proud 2A program. After an 0-10 inaugural season, then an improved 3-7 sophomore campaign, the Eagles have made back-to-back trips to the second round of the playoffs. With 19 returning starters, this could be the year Goldthwaite re-emerges as the perennial playoff contender of the 1990s and 2000s.
That process began this last weekend in College Station. The Eagles were crisp from the opening whistle, blowing out Hawley 40-18. Game 2 was much tighter, but it also showed something about this team’s character. Jefferson was two yards away from the game-winning score, but Goldthwaite held them out of the end zone on four straight downs to preserve a 21-19 victory.
In total, the Eagles went 6-1 on the weekend. Coach Andy Howard said quarterback Hayes Greenway has taken a massive leap under center this offseason, now calling all of the plays at the line of scrimmage. Wide receiver Aidyn Lee (29 receptions, 539 yards, 6 TDs) was his favorite target all weekend. Safety Blaine Hall is the quarterback of the defense, making all the coverage calls to get his guys in the right position.
But Howard says the biggest development was a newfound attitude among the team.
“The main thing is confidence going into the fall,” Howard said. “We’ll line up against anybody in the state of Texas; we’re ready for that.”
State 7-on-7 is a funny game. It’s almost concocted in a lab to produce the most upsets possible. Take out the linemen, add in travel, and it feels like anything can happen. But, in terms of program pedigree, you’d be hard-pressed to find a larger upset than Keller Central beating Allen on the final play of the Division I Championship. Keller Central has never won a playoff game in the program’s 22-year history. At five-time state champion Allen, the sky is falling if they don’t go at least three rounds deep.
So, you could be a hater and dismiss this result as impossible in the fall. And, maybe if we lined Keller Central and Allen up in pads right now, the score would be different. But when a program with zero historical playoff success faces a team of Allen’s caliber, the logo does as much work beating them as the actual team does. How many times have we seen a team like Keller Central shy away from that moment, tensing up, playing to not screw up instead of playing to win? This was a monumental win for Keller Central’s program, the first step toward building a team that could go toe-to-toe with Allen in the fall.
“We don’t have to be perfect,” Vance said. “We’re building the confidence to where, even if we screw up, even if everything doesn’t look perfectly right, we have the confidence and energy where we’re going to make a play and turn things around.”
The Chargers have a special crop of skill position players – headlined by the Taylor twins in the junior class. Isaiah Taylor, the reigning District Offensive Newcomer of the Year, was an absolute dawg all weekend. In the championship game, he threw four touchdowns and also had a clutch interception from his safety spot on an Allen fourth-and-goal. Jeremiah is one of his favorite wide receiver targets, and also earned District Defensive Newcomer of the Year at defensive back.
One of the most interesting parts of State 7-on-7 is seeing a first-time starting quarterback audition to replace a program legend and college football signee. Lexington’s Chris Smith aced his first action in place of Penn State signee Kase Evans. Smith earned a place on DCTX’s All-Tournament team, leading the Eagles to the state semifinals. Coach Kirk Muhl said Smith’s performance was the culmination of the tremendous growth he’s shown since the beginning of 7-on-7 in late March. And the scariest part for opposing defenses is that Smith is a true dual threat who’ll only get more dangerous once Lexington implements option plays with him. He has the strength to tuck it and run with a 325-pound bench press at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds.
But there’s also another reason to buy stock in these Eagles. Lexington’s 11-2 record last year doesn’t represent just how frustrating the team’s injury luck was. In Week 2 against Little River Academy, Lexington finished the game with 14 players. Muhl had to move 5-foot-9, 165-pound wide receiver Jurion Moore to defensive end because he ran out of bodies. Star running back and free safety Colten Smith (Chris’s brother) missed the entire season. Wide receiver Kaden Washington missed four games with a concussion. Even Chris Smith missed six games with a broken collarbone. This is one of the most battle-tested – and hungry – 11-2 teams you will find.
Look for Smith to thrive with his brother, Colten, back in the fold. Washington made an early push to be Smith’s favorite target. Muhl said the team did not keep stats, but Washington unofficially had 70% of the team’s touchdowns. Kaden has improved this offseason by training with his cousin, James Washington, the Class 2A record-holder with 61 career receiving touchdowns at Stamford who went on to set Oklahoma State’s career receiving yards mark.
In its first State 7-on-7 Tournament appearance since 2016, Pilot Point made it all the way to the semifinals of the Division II bracket.
The Bearcats are traditionally a run-heavy team out of the multiple I-formation. But head coach Chad Worrell has always pushed his teams to participate in 7-on-7 from his time at Brock, Celina, and El Campo. Sure, there are some on-field benefits. The quarterbacks and wide receivers develop chemistry. The defensive backs are put in tough positions – like playing man coverage without the ability to press – that will benefit them in the fall.
But to Worrell, the biggest benefit of 7-on-7 – especially for a Class 3A team that cannot participate in spring football – is stoking the competitive fire. And these Bearcats showed fight. This spring, Pilot Point lost to Decatur and Fort Worth Southwest Christian during state qualifying tournaments. After going 2-1 in pool, but falling to a three-seed because of tiebreakers, the Bearcats had to play Decatur in the opening round of bracket play. They avenged their SQT losses, beating Decatur 13-7 in the opening round and Fort Worth Southwest Christian 21-19 in the quarterfinals.
This was a significant showing by Pilot Point because the skill positions were the team’s biggest question marks. The Bearcats return four of five offensive linemen and three of four defensive linemen from a 9-3 team. But outside of senior running back Josh Chumley (over 2,500 career rushing yards), Pilot Point didn’t have a lot of proven playmakers back. No returning quarterback completed a pass last year. The leading receiver, David Pickrell, had six catches for 62 yards. New quarterback Luke Daniel, a junior, made great decisions all weekend and was in complete command of the offense. Senior Luke Connor made the All-Tournament team for his play at wide receiver and defensive back. But perhaps the biggest breakout performance was from incoming freshman Collin Grigsby, who had a pick-six in the team’s first game against Hitchcock and made multiple big-time catches at wide receiver throughout the weekend.
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