7-on-7 state tournament preview

Before the start of 2-a-days in just over a month’s time, Cameron will have a few more opportunities to improve on their game. That starts this Thursday and Friday with the state 7-on-7 tournament in College Station.

The brackets for the tournament were released on Saturday and the Yoemen find themselves in pool K with Abilene Wylie, Celina and Needville. The pool is considered by some experts as the toughest in the field of 64 teams.

“We have a lot of good teams,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear. “Celina is always good. Needville is there every year You have Abilene Wylie which is known for their football. If it’s not the toughest it’s got to be up there with them. It only makes us better. We will get after it and compete and make Cameron proud.”

Needville was in Cameron’s pool last year and pulled off the upset, 45-40. Celina has been at the state tournament every year since 2007 and the same could be said about Abilene Wylie since 2009.

Needville has been to state the past three years while Cameron has been there eight out of the last nine years. Additionally, Celina has won the state 7-on-7 championship a total of four times, which is more than any other team in the history of the tournament.

Game Times

Cameron will be on field four to begin pool play on Thursday. The first game is slated for 2:00 p.m. versus Celina. Combined, Cameron and Celina have won a total of 11 state championships on the gridiron. The second game will be against Needville at 4:00 p.m. with the finale versus Abilene Wylie to start at 6:00 p.m.

The top two teams will advance to the championship bracket while the bottom two teams will play in the consolation bracket. Consolation play will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Friday while championship play will begin an hour later at 9:00 a.m.

Last season, Cameron finished 2-1 in pool play and managed to defeat Giddings and McGregor before falling to eventual champion Kaufman in the quarterfinals.

Other notable brackets

The Rockdale Tigers have qualified for the state tournament for the eighth time in school history and will be in pool with Dublin, Liberty and San Augustine.

Another strong group appears to be pool G with China Spring, Gilmer, Hardin-Jefferson and Sonora. China Spring and Gilmer are expected to be contenders in 4A this fall in their respective divisions.

Pool P also has qualify teams with Falls City, Melissa, Navasota and Stephenville.

Tournament Location

For the 18th year, the state 7-on-7 tournament will be held in College Station. When Texas A&M University moved over to the SEC, play was shifted over to Round Rock for the only season out of Aggieland. The games are now played at Veterans Park. The address to the fields: 3101 Harvey Rd, College Station, TX 77845.

The park has ample fields to host the event, but arriving early is recommended as parking starts to become an issue as all the teams begin to arrive.