It’s time to throw the pigskin around again

“Big” Joe Lombardi “Cup O’Joe”

Football season is here for the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs...well, kinda in a way you might say.

What we’re talking about here is actually the second season of Texas’ national sport, which is, of course, high school football and season two is only a month long.  Anybody guessed what I’m talking about yet?

Okay, I give in.  I’ll tell.

That annual rite of summer called 7-on-7 got underway yesterday with the CenTex Passing League’s first weekly tournament at the athletic annex.  Like last year, the league features teams from Copperas Cove, Belton, Temple and Cameron Yoe, with each school hosting a weekly get together in rotation through June 26 on Monday afternoons.  Each team will play the other three in games consisting of two 20-minute halves with a 10-minute break.  

Results from yesterday weren’t available by press time, but from everything I’ve heard about how Cove looked in the spring training Blue-Gold game, I’m betting they gave a real good account of themselves.  With the skill people in Copperas Cove’s cupboard, plus the depth developed by the coaches during spring drills, look out!

What’s good about 7-on-7? Everything!  It gives the quarterbacks and receivers a chance to work on quick reads and getting the ball out in a hurry, since there’s only 4.0 seconds allowed to throw a pass.  There’s no blocking allowed by the offense, either.  

Meanwhile, the defenders get their footwork down and work on pass breakup technique, which is made even tougher, since there’s no hitting.  This is touch football at its highest level.  

Personally, I think it’s a great way to train and to stay in shape.  Over time, the CenTex Passing League also hasn’t forgotten those big boys.  The league instituted a Lineman’s Challenge contest in conjunction with the weekly passing tourneys, where the trench crewmen compete in weights, rolling huge commercial tires around and I’ve even seen them pull a roped pickup truck down a course against time.  They’ll finish up with a hotly contested tug of war.

There’s a prize at the end of this rainbow, too.

The two-day State 7-on-7 Tournament is set for June 30-July 1 in College Station and the Bulldawgs will compete for a spot in that event at State Qualifier Tournaments in Abilene this Friday, then a week later at Austin Westlake, followed by a final shot June 23 at Lake Travis.  The top two teams in each SQT will automatically receive a bid to the state clambake.

However, the non-believers still put in their two cents’ worth. Each year about this time, I’ll always have a few naysayers come up to me and want to know why I’m sold on 7-on-7 and drop such pearls as “That’s not football.  It’s boring, yada yada, yada.”  What’s my reply?

I’ll just pack up my lawn chair, load my cooler, head to the field and watch me some football.

Go Dawgs!

Copperas Cove Leader Press

2210 U.S. 190
Copperas Cove, TX 76522
Phone:(254) 547-4207