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Wolfpack restarts 7-on-7 attack
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
While football teams may boast an entirely different crop of players from year to year during 7-on-7, experience can still play a factor.
With the longtime summer precursor to the autumn grind of the football season, Plano West offensive coordinator Kelly Mercer described a certain mindset entering the Wolves’ first run through the 7-on-7 state tournament in 2008.
“[The state tournament] is one of those things,” he said, “where I think it’s about which teams can handle the drive and staying away from home, playing in the heat under the humidity of College Station. It’s a battle of who’s in shape and who has prepared both physically and mentally.”
Two years later, Mercer said he’s been hammering home those aforementioned tenets as the team preps for Friday and Saturday when West makes its second foray into the FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Tournament, held at the Penberthy Intramural Fields on the Texas A&M campus in College Station.
“We feel pretty proud just to get this far,” Mercer said. “…Hopefully we can use this as a catapult into two-a-days; go down to College Station and have some success, and build some confidence to take into two-a-days to build towards the season.”
The Wolves secured their tournament berth about midway through the state qualifier process, protecting their home field at a host qualifier on June 12. There, West battered a pool that included Wylie East and Red Oak, with a 34-23 semifinal victory over Frisco Liberty punching the Wolves’ ticket to College Station.
But while securing the team’s second 7-on-7 state tourney berth in program history was a welcome feather in the cap, it was the continued drive showcased by the Wolves the following two weekends that stuck out to Mercer.
“Every game since our qualifier hasn’t meant much as far as getting to College Station,” he said. “For the kids to come out and do what they did shows that they’re in it to win it, no matter the situation and no matter if the game matters or not.”
The Wolves continued to be fixtures in the SQT scene, participating in qualifiers in Lewisville and Rockwall, where they netted a pool play record of 5-1 with wins over Dallas Skyline, Sherman and Flower Mound Marcus mixed in.
The personnel pieces have fallen into place for the Wolves over the past month with equal parts on offense and defense making stands throughout the 7-on-7 grind.
Headlining the marquee for the West defense is the leadership core of junior Grant Cooper and senior Justin Bass; the latter of whom is in the midst of a shift from safety to outside linebacker. Noted contributions have also been provided by senior Xavier Sanders, whose ball hawking prowess has been on display over the past couple weeks, and the rise to prominence of sophomore Davis Roeschke.
“[Roeschke] has really asserted himself as a football player,” Mercer said. “The kids respect him even though he’s about to be a sophomore. He’s really done a lot this summer. He hasn’t had a ton of interceptions, but a lot of the time he’s been playing the other team’s best receiver man-to-man.”
Offensively, Mercer said junior Carson Smith has continued to regain his footing at the quarterback position, not having thrown an interception since West’s first game at the Lewisville SQT against Richland.
Supplementing the signal caller is a receiving core that includes West track and field standout and big-play threat Carlos Wiggins, senior Jordain Lilavois and the emotional drive of senior Ryan Doyle.
“[Doyle’s] really kind of the heart and soul of the offense right now,” Mercer said. “He’ll play inside or outside, wherever he needs to play depending on what the defense is doing, and he’s also a leader and captain as far as talking to the kids about what to run.”
The contributions don’t stop there, as the Wolves have made use of as many as nine receivers during 7-on-7 play of late, with the team’s depth a valuable asset for the trip down south for the weekend.
“The good thing about this summer is that we’re carrying one quarterback, but about nine receivers,” Mercer said. “And all nine receivers have the ability to contribute, which will be huge if we plan on making any kind of run during the tournament portion down in College Station.”
The Wolves will open pool play in a field that contains opposition from all walks of the state, slotted in Pool L alongside Houston Worthing (Friday at 2 p.m.), Pearland (4 p.m.) and Edinburg (6 p.m.). Mercer cited Pearland and Worthing’s athleticism, comparing the latter to Skyline. But in not exactly having a pulse for what to anticipate, it only adds to the suspense of how the Wolves will fare in their sophomore stint at the state tournament.
And as the Wolves have made a habit out of over the past month, College Station is about taking care of business in just one chapter of what Mercer said has been a very productive offseason for West thus far.
“We’re going to have to play well,” he said. “These kids are looking to play their best and if they do that, everything else will take care of itself.”
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