When fans hear DeSoto, Lake Travis, Westlake, Cedar Hill and Katy they usually think dominant, but after day one of the D1 7on7 state tournament they were all far from dominant.
DeSoto looked to be one of the most physically imposing teams in the tournament, and according to 24/7 sports they have three prospects in the top 45 playing on this team, they should be a heavy favorite.
DeSoto breezed through Alamo Heights as they should have, winning 33-7. The tandem of Shawn Robinson and Laviska Shenault was unstoppable in game one. It turned out it would be the easiest game they would have, as the next two would only get tougher. The game against Tomball Memorial could’ve ended in a different result. Thanks to the defense stopping Memorial 10 plays in a row in the red zone after two defensive penalties on the last possession before half, Desoto ended up winning by 7.
Needing a win to advance to the championship bracket Mercedes came out fighting, but the Eagles size was too much and they squeaked out a one-point victory. DeSoto topped Pool H finishing at 3-0, the Eagles will play Pool P second place finisher Arlington.
Charlie Brewer Lake Travis
Lake Travis the 6A D-II runner up this past December came out of the gate strong beating Arlington Bowie 42-29. Brothers Charlie and Cade Brewer, both SMU commits, were too much for the Volunteers. When Charlie needed a big play he looked toward his brother Cade who was just bigger than anyone Bowie could put on him.
Just like DeSoto, Lake Travis’ final two games would only get closer. Unlike DeSoto though the Cavaliers lost their final game to Manvel, finishing second in their pool. Lake Travis will take on a Houston Lamar team who averaged close to 40 points per game. The winner of Lamar v Lake Travis will most likely be facing DeSoto if they can get past Arlington like they should.
Westlake sure won’t make Dickinson lose any sleep after a very lackluster first day. Westlake lost their first game to Richland, 32-25, who eventually finished last in the pool. Being the state runner up in D-I a loss might get the Chaparrals going, but the Chaps would only manage to win their next two games by a total of 10 points.
The Chaps did have “tiny” excuse to not be at their best on offense, four-star University of Texas bound Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was not playing. Westlake will sure have to find some more offense if they want to play more than one game tomorrow as they failed to reach 30 points in day one, and Dickinson scored at least 33 in every game.
Now if those three teams didn’t seem imposing the results of Cedar Hill and Katy sure won’t be as both teams failed to reach the championship bracket. Katy’s lone victory was a 40-21 win over a very unimpressive Monterey team that went 0-3 in pool play. Cedar Hill also failed to win multiple games in pool play, and arguably even less impressive than Katy by squeaking out their only win by seven.
It seems to be that the schools that end up playing late into November and December don’t seem to put much emphasis into winning in the 7on7 tournament.
“We’re not a big seven on seven team. We win back-to-back state championships, and win one seven on seven game at state,” said Cedar Hill Head Coach Joey McGuire. “We don’t put a lot of stock into it.”
Cedar Hill coaches on the sidelines
Maybe it means something to not put too much stock into the 7on7 games, Coach McGuire seems to think it’s about what the players get out of it instead of what the scoreboard says. No matter the results of where these teams finish in the tournament look for all of them to be playing well past Thanksgiving.
