IT’S BACK! | Kilgore hosts 7-on-7 state qualifier on Saturday

It’s shocking to hear that football and volleyball are the next organized sports to start.

What if we told you there’s football this weekend, at Kilgore’s R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium?

Well, there is. It’s a state qualifying tournament for next month’s Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament.

Games will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at the stadium, located on Harris Street, and concessions will be open.

The objective, of course, is to win the thing and punch a ticket to be one of dozens of teams competing at the state tournament on June 26-28 at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station, where it was a year ago.

Kilgore is the host team, and of course, is competing. The Bulldogs won their SQT at R.E. St. John last year.

Other teams playing in this Saturday’s tournament in Kilgore are Sabine, Chapel Hill, Palestine, Lindale, Pleasant Grove, Jefferson and Van Alstyne.

Teams that don’t qualify this weekend have other opportunities. There’s a qualifier at Chapel Hill on May 24, for instance.

Kilgore did quite well last year. Former Kilgore cornerback Jayden Sanders was named the defensive most valuable player of the state tournament, as part of the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football All-Tournament Team. Sabine also competed. Kilgore made the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Hamshire-Fannett, a team the Bulldogs had beaten in overtime earlier in the event. 

There are actually three tournaments ongoing at state: the bigger Division I, for teams that are from schools classified in 5A and 6A in the University Interscholastic League; Division II, which is for teams that would be from schools in the 3A and 4A classifications; and Division III, for teams from smaller schools.

The tournaments for divisions II and III are Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27, and the bigger Division I tournament is June 27-28.

The 7-on-7 football is pretty much a passing league. The field it’s played on is just 45 yards long, though, and 160 feet wide, so when played on a regular 100-yard football field, cones are used to mark off the dimensions.

There are two 15-minute halves, a continuous clock for each half, and no halftime. There are also no time-outs, except in the case of injuries. Typically, there are three officials for each game (a referee, a field judge and a back judge), at the state level. Two officials can be used for state qualifiers, like this weekend at R.E. St. John.

How ‘bout this: no high school coach can serve as a coach, or stand with the team on the sidelines, but each team does have to have a coach accompany them to events, to serve as an administrator. All coaches present have to sit in the end zone during games, and none are allowed on the sideline.

Players were soft-shell helmets and wear mouthpieces – there’s no sideline-to-player communication devices in the helmets.

All plays are passes – there are no running plays called, and there’s no kicking or punting the ball in the 7-on-7 game.

Possessions begin at the 45-yard-line, and both offenses in a game move in the same direction downfield. You can’t have two forward passes on one play, but laterals are permitted.

There is no blocking, and no tackling; the ball-carrier or receiver is down when touched with a hand, or two hands.

It’s a fast-paced game. The offense has 40 seconds between plays to snap the ball, and the clock starts as soon as an official rules a play dead. And you’d better adhere to it, because two delay-of-game penalties on the same possession is a turnover.

Speaking of turnovers, fumbles are ruled dead at the spot. Interceptions can be returned, including for scores.

Quarterbacks are allowed four seconds to throw the ball, and there is an official timekeeper. If he goes over that four seconds and throws the ball, then regardless of the result of the gain, the ball comes back to the original line of scrimmage.

Defensive and offensive pass interference is still 15 yards, like in regular high school football.

The center is not an eligible receiver, like they are in six-man football, and all participating teams have to have a center – also, the ball has to be snapped from the ground.

The point system: six points for a touchdown; one point for a conversion from the 3-yard-line, and two points for a conversion from the 10.

Teams can also get two points if a team returns a conversion attempt the opposite direction across the 45.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football is very integral in the Texas State 7-on-7 Tournament. To read more about it, including past champions, and any other rules, here you go: Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament.