Midlands teams get some work in at tournaments
With just two weeks remaining before the start of football practice, several of the Midlands teams participated in passing league tournaments this past week, and here’s how they ended up:
LEXINGTON: The Wildcats went 7-3 in the Palmetto Showdown at Byrnes High with some impressive wins against quality competition. Lexington showed it has some ability to stage comebacks when they are behind, which is a good thing for a young team. The entered the tournament portion of the event as the No. 6 seed among 24 teams.
DUTCH FORK: The Foxes went 6-3 in the Powerade 7 on 7 at Butler HS in North Carolina. After finishing pool play 5-2, the Foxes won their first game before losing to Oakland in the second round. The Foxes showed they’ll be able to throw the football with Reese Nichols at the quarterback position.
RIDGE VIEW: The Blazers struggled in the same pool as Dutch Fork, finishing 3-4 before going 1-1 in the tournament bracket. They beat South Pointe in the first round before losing to Mallard Creek, N.C., in round two.
IRMO: Things didn’t look good for the Yellow Jackets at the Powerade 7 on 7. In pool play, the Jackets went 0-7, lost in the first round of the playoff bracket, and then again in their first game of consolation round to finish the tournament 0-9.
So what does all this mean? Nothing really.
Passing leagues are functional only from the standpoint of getting reps for the offensive and defensive skills players. But without hitting on the field, frequently balls are caught that wouldn’t be caught in the games because the linebackers and defensive backs pull up rather than being able to go through the receivers to break up passes.
There are frequently teams that do really well in the passing league tournaments, but end up getting wiped off the field in regular season by teams they beat in passing leagues.
In a couple of weeks, we’ll get to see things that matter more – full speed and full contact as preaseason practice begin.
This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Midlands teams get some work in at tournaments."