News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - With the start of practice just over two weeks away, schools are getting their final work for the summer completed.
On Friday at Memorial Stadium, 10 teams took part in a 7-on-7 tournament hosted by El Dorado, who split their team into two squads.
After pool play was completed in the morning, Monticello entered the afternoon as the No. 7 seed, but that didn’t deter the Billies, who took home the championship by topping both of El Dorado’s teams.
“They got on a roll, and they played really well in the finals to beat us,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “I was really pleased with our kids defensively. Until that game, we played well offensively, too. We just kind of laid an egg in that one game. It’s kind of a tough way to end, but I’m really pleased with our kids.
“We got a lot of good work in, and a lot of compliments on our tournament and hospitality. I thought all of our people that worked did a tremendous job. It was hot, but we had plenty of refreshments. We had a good day.”
The EHS squad entered bracket play as the top seed. They downed Lake Village before rallying past Camden in overtime to reach the finals with Tyler Smith hauling in a pass from Darius Holly to win the game. The Wildcats squad was seeded sixth, but earned a win over Magnolia before falling to the eventual champions in the semifinals.
Although neither of his teams walked away with the championship, Reed was pleased with what he saw.
“In 7-on-7, if you miss one or two, you can get behind and have a tough time,” Reed said. “In the semifinal game, Camden was ahead of us, but we won in overtime. They showed some resiliency. The other team had a chance to beat Monticello at the end, so it could’ve been both of our teams in the finals.
“Unfortunately in 7-on-7, if you have one bad possession, you get behind and press a little bit. We didn’t finish as well as we would’ve liked in that final game, but our kids played real well. We’ve made a lot of improvement, and I know they’re excited about the season coming up.”
Smackover and Junction City also participated in the event.
The Bucks entered bracket play as the No. 2 seed, but were upended by Monticello in their first game in the afternoon.
The Dragons were seeded fifth and fell to Camden in their first afternoon contest.
As far as the Wildcats are concerned, Reed said his team is eager for August to arrive.
“I think our kids are ready to get started with practice and get to real football,” Reed said. “I know we all are. It seemed like the dead period was really long this year.
“This is actually the first week back. We had two weeks without workouts. We had a really good week of practice and had good attendance. I really think our guys are ready to get into practice in August and ready for the season.”