A&M Consolidated State Qualifying Tournament Report

It's 7-on-7 season, which means that preseason football is in full swing.

On Saturday, the Cypress Woods Wildcats traveled to College Station to take part in a 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament hosted by A&M Consolidated High School. This is their first attempt at qualifying for the State 7-on-7 Tournament, which will take place July 8-9 at Veterans Park in College Station.

In the 16-team SQT, the Wildcats were drawn into Pool C with Cy Springs, Jersey Village, and Magnolia. Pools C and D played their games at College Station High School.

Pool C Results

L 27-25 vs. Cy Springs
W 53-43 vs. Magnolia
W 39-32 vs. Jersey Village

At 2-1, the Cats finished pool play tied at the top with Magnolia. The Bulldogs defeated Cy Springs in their final game in pool play, which allowed the Wildcats to advance by virtue of their win over Magnolia. Had Cy Springs and Cy Woods won, the Panthers would have advanced.

In the semifinals, the Wildcats faced off against the College Station Cougars, the winners of Pool D. Unfortunately, they met their end at the hands of the Cougars, who basically had their way with a Wildcat squad that was running on fumes at that point.

As a result, Cy Woods fell one game short of qualifying for the State 7-on-7 Tournament in their first attempt. Despite the rough end to their day, I was impressed with how they competed despite a noticeable lack of depth, which resulted in several players having to play both ways.

7-on-7 football does have its drawbacks, and yes, state champions aren't decided in July, but I feel that it has its benefits, especially when a team is trying to break in a virtually new group of offensive skill players. Cy Woods will basically have an entirely new group of skill players on offense in 2016, so spring football and 7-on-7 are both crucial periods for these kids to build cohesiveness with one another. For some of these kids, 7-on-7 sort of serves as their first exposure to varsity-level competition; they now know that the caliber of athletes that they will be facing on Friday and Saturday will be vastly superior to the types of players they have faced in the past. Although coaches are barred from doing their job during 7-on-7 season, they still have the opportunity to see their players compete.

With one varsity season under his belt, Jack Barrientez is poised to break out in 2016. I can't seem to remember who it was against, but he made several defenders look absolutely silly as he knifed his way to the endzone. Against Magnolia, Jack was involved in a rather nasty collision which resulted in some stitches, but he got patched up and got back to it. Coach Faith lauded him for his toughness at various points throughout the day, while Coach Neill described Jack as someone who really does the little things well.

As I stated earlier, although the Wildcats will have many new faces on offense next season, these new faces showed off their upside; Angel Laca, a junior receiver, made some highlight-reel catches; he made two particularly impressive ones against Cy Springs. Connor Faulk, a sophomore receiver, showed solid hands, although he did get called out for being too lax while carrying the ball.

Jacob Kainer and Semaj Trahan both split time at quarterback, and they both performed extremely well. Semaj has the potential to become a truly special player, and he showcased his athleticism with a few fine catches of his own. Jacob is working his way back from a serious leg injury, but his arm is as strong as ever. His foot speed isn't quite back yet, but he moved around well and didn't look uncomfortable.

The defense has a little work to do; there were periods of miscommunication between the players, but when the Cats needed stops, they came through and got them. When the real season starts, how far the Wildcats go will hinge largely on the success of their defense, which has been a significant issue for the last two seasons.

All things considered, the Wildcats had a solid showing in College Station, and the kids should be very encouraged by how they performed. Some of the bigger guns were absent, but that allowed some of the younger players like Angel Laca and Connor Faulk and Bobby Dodson to step up and showcase their skills. I hope that this was a positive experience for all of them. They contended with three very good squads in Cy Springs, Magnolia, and Jersey Village, and came out on top. Although they didn't qualify for the State Tournament right away, they still have two more chances to do so.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Wednesday at the Berry Center, and they'll bring a varsity and a JV squad. They'll try to qualify for the State 7-on-7 Tournament again this weekend when they'll take part at the Cougar State Qualifying Tournament, hosted by Cy Creek. I did hear from Mr. Kainer that some of the pool games might be taking place at Cy Woods.