A question about 7 on 7

[Matthew328]

will there be any 3A schools who didn't normally play in the state qualifiers in years past decide to play now since there is a small school division??

I can think of a few cadidates

Glen Rose is playing in SQT's this year
Canyon: maybe since they have a 3A-1A SQT in their backyard?
Iowa Park: see Canyon
Gainesville: used to play but stopped, maybe they play?
Kennedale: could play in the Bowie small school?
Sinton/Ingleside: maybe the A&M-Kingsville SQT?
Royse City: always hosts a non SQT


Those are just a few, I imagine the teams who usually play SQT's will continue

Canton. West Orange-Stark, Bandera, Gatesville, Athens, Mabank, Gilmer, Gladewater, Rockdale, etc

[District303aPastPlayer]

Sinton has played before in the Robstown Airraid... whihc was a few years back... but i don't know if they will play in the A&M-K SQT

[Matthew328]

I am hopeful lots of a 3A schools who don't normally play end up playing..it'll be fun to hopefully run into a bunch of fans at the small school state tournament...

[fireman1]

usually there are only like 3 or 4 teams from 3A in the state tourny and Wharton is one of them

[Matthew328]

I forgot about Wharton...I wonder if they will do small or big school?

[fireman1]

I think they are going small school because there is a tournament here so hopefully they can get further than past years

[Matthew328]

The closest small school SQT to Wharton I guess would be Rice???

[tigerpride_08]

Originally posted by Matthew328
The closest small school SQT to Wharton I guess would be Rice???

i hope we still even have 7 on 7 now with the whole coaching ordeal...but i would suspect us to even go to the bigger schools qualifer...

[Matthew328]

I forgot about Cuero, they usually play in 1 or 2 SQTs and usually come close to qualifying but depth gets em....maybe with a small school qualifier they'll get in...

[injuredinmelee]

wish Wylie would play some.

[Matthew328]

I've always wondered why they didn't....I am sure they play in a league somewhere, some coaches just don't do the state qualifiers....it would be a question I'd love to ask Coach Sandifer just to get his take..

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by Matthew328
I forgot about Cuero, they usually play in 1 or 2 SQTs and usually come close to qualifying but depth gets em....maybe with a small school qualifier they'll get in...

I hope so too Matthew - last year we 'drew"a 5A school from Houston, Greg Portland and a big school from the Valley but I forget the name (they played Smithson Valley in the playoffs in 2005) Those teams had all kinds of fresh players on the sidelines - we had 10 total...... I think we won the 1st two and lost the 3rd one on the last play. Our boys were exhausted but we hung with em. Victoria played Gonzales, Yorktown and another smaller school... :rolleyes:

[Matthew328]

A&M-Kingsville has a small school qualifier and Texas State....4 teams from each qualifier advance to state....I'm hoping Cuero plays in at least one!

[injuredinmelee]

Originally posted by Matthew328
I've always wondered why they didn't....I am sure they play in a league somewhere, some coaches just don't do the state qualifiers....it would be a question I'd love to ask Coach Sandifer just to get his take..

Last year was the first year they participated in any form of 7 on 7 and it was in the little, small school league that some guy at ACU threw together.

[Matthew328]

well maybe this year they'll participate more...a lot of times coaches don't mind teams playing as long as they dont have to do a lot of the leg work....if a good parent comes in and takes care of the team and getting funds together for entry fee all the coach has to do is make some phone calls to get the team entered in the qualifier...

Abilene High hosts a big school qualifier every year at Lee Park I think....Brownwood also hosts a big school qualifier along with Frenship

the closest small school qualifiers are at Midwestern State and Arlington Bowie HS

[Keith7]

Originally posted by Matthew328

Gainesville: used to play but stopped, maybe they play?


I didn't know they stopped, when I played we tried to go to as many state qualifiers as possable, its a shame if they did stop too because some of those trips were fun and it was always good to get a feel for your team way before the season even starts..

My question is, why did they make a small school division for 7 on 7? It seemed like small schools often had just as much chance as the larger ones.. Didn't Celina win state in 7 on 7 one year when they were 2A?

[Adidas410s]

Celina did win it a while back...they beat Abilene Cooper in the finals. I'm sure Matt could tell you why they decided to split it up though...

[Matthew328]

A vast majority of the small schools were just getting demolished by the big boys in state qualifiers....last year only 5 3A schools made the state tournament Canton, Wharton, West Orange-Stark, Bandera and Graham....a lot of the small schools refused to participate so they decided to "even" the playing field and create the small school bracket...I personally like it..

If small schools still want to go against the big boys they do still have the option...

Gainesville had orginally committed to play in the Paris SQT last year but they backed up...maybe they'll play this year

[bandera7]

yeah Bandera has been successful in the last couple of years. We beat the eventual state runner up (Rockwall) in bracket play, and advanced to the second round, where we lost to an alamo heights team we had previously beaten that year. We hang with the big boys, we played Spring Westfield, Rockwall, and then a 3a school in our bracket. Spring Westfield actually beat us but didnt get to advance due to ties and points. Not sure what we are going to do in terms of big school/small school, but we should be good again this year.