Archives > Sports Update
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Plano, East take on the Bull, but get the horns
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
High school kids frequently fill their summer hours by playing video games.
Football players from Plano Senior and Plano East got in on a variation of that action Friday at Cedar Hill as the Wildcats and Panthers took part in the Red Bull Game Breaker Dallas Qualifier, which featured action and rules more akin to Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 than a typical 7-on-7 tournament.
"It was like a video game," said Jaydon McCullough, Plano Senior head coach, before tongue-in-cheekly adding his own gaming reference. "Maybe we were at a disadvantage because we didn't know all the powers we could use or that other teams had."
The 15-team double-elimination tournament moved rapid fire. In addition to each team scoring its typical points, one point was awarded for each first down and defenders were allowed to rush on third and fourth down.
"It was definitely fun," McCullough said. "It was a little different, but the games were really exciting and our guys had a blast."
Neither Plano nor East advanced with the Wildcats bookending a victory with losses to West Mesquite and host team Cedar Hill.
"We could have won all three games we played, but we had some dropped balls and just didn't play as well as we needed to," McCullough said. "But the guys were out there playing hard and it was a good experience because they really competed and still had a good time."
Highland Park, DeSoto and Arlington Seguin advanced to the Red Bull National Finals (the Scots defeated the Eagles in the finals, 27-22), which are set for July 15-16 at SMU's Ford Stadium.
West wins battle by avoiding fight
Plano and Plano West already have other plans that weekend as the Wildcats and Wolves are in the field for the 2011 State 7-on-7 Tournament in College Station.
But that didn't stop either team from competing Saturday in the Wylie State Qualifying Tournament.
Plano went 2-1 on the day and tied for the lead in Pool A. The Wildcats defeated Wylie, 28-14, and Frisco Liberty, 47-12, before dropping a decision to Arlington Martin, 26-12. West had to settle for its first losing mark at a SQT, as the Wolves went 1-2, but the team avoided getting involved in a far more disastrous situation.
In the final Pool C game of the day, West lost to North Mesquite, 33-26. But while that game was going on, WT White and Irving MacArthur got into a bench-clearing brawl on the adjacent field that disqualified both teams.
"It was pretty bad," said Kelly Mercer, West offensive coordinator. "I was proud of our kids for not getting caught up in that stuff."
Had West got involved, the Wolves would likely have lost their state berth.
It wasn't all good news for West on Saturday though as the Wolves preceded the defeat against North Mesquite with a 35-21 loss to White and 19-18 victory over MacArthur.
"Most of our kids were at least somewhat disappointed with how we performed Saturday," Mercer said. "We played good defense against MacArthur, which is really talented, but we were sluggish against White and couldn't really put together anything sustained against them.
"The kids thought we had too many mental mistakes."
West will return to the field Saturday looking to step it up in the Rockwall SQT.
"Our 7-on-7 kids held a meeting Monday and basically challenged themselves and each other to do a better job," Mercer said. "Sure, we've already qualified for state, but these guys want to go 3-0 at Rockwall."
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports Update «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
