REMINDER: 7-ON-7 QUALIFIER AT KILGORE SATURDAY | Teams playing for a chance at state tournament in June

This reminder that you don’t have to wait until August to see high school football.

Now, it’s not the USUAL high school football – it’s kind of like, well, high school football on a diet, with a turbo button – but it’s football, nonetheless.

If you’ve never seen 7-on-7 football, a game designed purely for passing, here’s your chance. Kilgore is hosting a Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament qualifier on Saturday at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.

It starts at 8 a.m., and there will be concession stands open.

Teams representing Kilgore, Sabine, Lindale, Chapel Hill, Palestine, Jefferson, Pleasant Grove and Van Alstyne will play in the qualifier. The advances to the state tournament on June 26-28 at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station, where it was a year ago – Kilgore and Sabine both qualified last year. Kilgore made the state semifinals.

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

There are actually three different tournaments in College Station: 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.

As mentioned, 7-on-7 football is a passing league. No running plays are called.

Here are a few rules and regulations.

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.

This is different: high school coach can’t serve as a coach in 7-on-7, 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.

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.

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.

For more on the state tournament, go here: Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament.