Heritage Hall looking to claim another 7-on-7 title
Another year and another loaded field at the Shootout of the South 7-on-7 football showcase this weekend in Arkansas.
Heritage Hall, who won the event in 2007, is one of the 24 teams competing. Each team is guaranteed to play seven games. Each team will play five games Friday. Those results will determine Saturday’s seeding. The championship final and consolation final will be 4 p.m. Saturday. The tournament champion qualifies for the 7-on-7 national championship July 21-23 in Hoover, Ala.
Heritage Hall won last week’s 7-on-7 event at Kansas State despite running backs Barry J. Sanders and Chedon Shockley and defensive back Brandon Moews not competing. Sanders and Moews are both expected to play this weekend.
Teams from Texas, Arkansas and Alabama will also be competing. Other Oklahoma schools participating are Stigler, Afton and Hilldale. It could be a showcase event for Afton wide receiver Sam Shepard, who has picked up a lot of interest in the last couple of months.
Top 7-on-7 Teams Invade Bluebird Complex
7th Annual Shootout of the South Begins Friday in West Little Rock
The Shootout of the South 7-on-7 Football Tournament has become one of the
more prestigious tournaments in the region. This year’s tournament attracts top
7-on-7 teams in Arkansas as well as teams from Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama.
Each of the twenty-four teams will compete in five pool play games on Friday
beginning at 11 a.m. at the Mighty Bluebird Complex at 6800 Pinnacle Valley Road
in Little Rock. The last pool play games will begin at 5:25 p.m. Pool play results
will seed Saturday’s tournament, which is a guaranteed-two game format,
beginning at 10 a.m. The finals for the championship and consolation brackets will
be at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The tournament champion will qualify for the 7-on-7
National Championship on July 21-23 in Hoover, Alabama.
Seven teams will travel across state lines to compete highlighted by Allen High
School and Belton High School in Texas, and Heritage Hall from Oklahoma City.
Allen won the tournament in 2006 and finished runner-up in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
Belton won the Belton 7-on-7 Texas State Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, and
Heritage Hall, the 2007 Shootout Champions, won the Kansas State 7-on-7 last
week, a tournament that featured over 30 teams. Other out of state teams
includes Prattville Christian Academy out of Prattville, Alabama and three other
Oklahoma schools – Afton, Hilldale, and Stigler.
The Arkansas teams participating will be 7A schools Bryant, Conway, Fayetteville,
and Rogers Heritage; 6A State Champion, El Dorado, along with other 6A members
Lake Hamilton, Parkview, and Russellville; 5A teams Central Arkansas Christian, Hot
Springs Lakeside, Magnolia, and Watson Chapel; and 4A Dumas, Nashville, Pulaski
Academy, and Warren. Three of those teams are former Shootout winners – Lake
Hamilton (2008), Fayetteville (2009), and Pulaski Academy (2010). Pulaski
Academy won the Sonic Air Raid in Searcy on June 4 and the ASPC 7-on-7 Summer
Showdown on June 9, Lake Hamilton won the Ouachita Baptist 7-on-7 Tournament
on June 9, and Central Arkansas Christian won the Auburn Passing Camp
Tournament last week.
Although this year’s tournament isn’t laced with as many BCS quarterback
commitments as 2010, there are several who can wing it in their own right. Allen
senior Alec Morris has offers from Wake Forest and North Texas. Three of the top
senior quarterbacks in Arkansas this year will be on display in Neal Burcham of
Greenbrier, Fredi Knighten of Pulaski Academy, and Levi Runyan of Lake Hamilton.
Two interesting juniors to watch will be Austin Allen of Fayetteville and Lucas Reed
of El Dorado. Allen is filling the shoes of brother Brandon, who signed with the
University of Arkansas, and Reed is stepping into the starting role that was
occupied by his brother, Taylor, who inked with the University of Memphis.
