Three local football teams took part in 7-on-7 event Tuesday morning at Varnado as preparations for the upcoming football season continue.
Varnado, Bogalusa and Pine took part in the event, along with Jewel Sumner and Tylertown, which is in Mississippi.
Teams played 15-minute games on a 40-yard field with two games going on at each end of the field.
Varnado fell to Jewel Sumner two touchdowns to one, and Pine lost to Tylertown 2-0 in the first set.
In the Varnado game, the Wildcats scored when James Williams connected with Desmond Harry on the first play after Jewel Sumner scored the opening touchdown to tie the game 1-1.
Bogalusa tied Sumner in the next contest 1-1 and Varnado came up short to Tylertown on the other side of the field, 3-2.
Bogalusa’s touchdown came with 45 seconds left when Jay Baham threw to Jared Jackson to tie the game.
Varnado and Bogalusa won the next set of games. Varnado was a 2-0 winner over Pine. Williams threw a pair of touchdowns — one each to Jacorrius Bickham and Desmond Harry.
Bogalusa won its game, 2-1 against Tylertown.
Bogalusa and Pine were next with the Lumberjacks winning by a 3-1 margin.
The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on touchdowns passes by Baham to Raheem Roberts and Isaac Carson.
Pine got on the board when Joey Seal connected with Evan Sinopoli, who made a sliding catch in the back of the end zone.
Bogalusa got the touchdown back with Baham hitting D’Angelo Mark for the score.
The Wildcats topped the Lumberjacks 2-1 while Pine and Jewel Sumner tied 2-2.
In the Varnado-Bogalusa game, the Wildcats jumped on top 2-0 when Williams threw a touchdown pass to Harry and also to Bickham. Bogalusa’s touchdown was from Bickham to Tyrese Roussell.
The Wildcats lost the following game to Jewel Sumner, 1-0, and Bogalusa and Tylertown played to a 1-1 tie.
Varnado was defeated 1-0 by Jewel Sumner on a touchdown pass as the horn sounded. Pine lost to Tylertown, 2-1.
Bogalusa and Jewel Sumner played to a 1-1 tie. Baham found Carson for Bogalusa’s touchdown that evened the contest at a touchdown each.
Bogalusa coach David Roberts said his team is getting better.
“We started off the summer and things were kind of sloppy,” Roberts said. “It’s coming together. The kids know their routes. We’ve been throwing every day, so obviously, we’re getting a little bit better there. Improvement and that’s what we’re looking for in this is just to improve and make sure everybody is getting reps and that we all know what we’re doing.”
Roberts said the defense is getting better.
“We were missing a couple of guys off defense that are out of town that are starters, but the other guys plugged in and did a very good job.”
Roberts said Kentrell Smith and Silas McGowan did a good job defensively, despite playing out of position.
Roberts said the depth is a good problem to have.
“Now we can rotate in, because those guys play offense also,” Roberts said.
The final game was a five-minute contest between Varnado and Pine that ended in a scoreless tie.
Varnado coach Scott Shaffett said his team went out kind of slow and sluggish.
“Once we got into a routine and played two, three games, we picked it up and played hard and played strong and played fast,” Shaffett said. “But the problem was it’s like if you get into a season and you play a first quarter you come out there slow, you’re down and you can’t afford to do that.
“You always step on that field with your shoes tied up, your cleats tied up, laced up and ready to go and you’ve got to go full speed from the time you start to the time you end.”
Offensively, Shaffett said early on that the Wildcats held the ball too long.
“Once we started getting rid of the ball, plays started opening up and we started making big plays and stuff like that, but early in the game, we held the ball, held the ball and we’d throw an interception,” Shaffett said. “We’ve got to know where our receivers are going to be. We can’t wait till they get there and then try to throw it to them. We’ve got to know where they’re going to be at and get our timing better. Once we started getting rid of the ball quicker, our offense got confidence, started playing well and then we started opening up big plays too.”
Defensively, Shaffett said the team started slow and couldn’t stop anybody.
“As we played along, it’s kind of like the second quarter, third quarter, we started playing a lot better football and started playing better. We’ve still got a lot of young guys on defense, so we’ve gotta learn.”
Shaffett noted that he had a cornerback and a free safety that were out at a camp and some other guys were also out.
“I had some guys like Darrius (Harry); he stepped up and did a great job. I was really proud of the way he stepped up at that cornerback spot. Now I need these other guys to pick it up and step up,” Shaffett said.
Pine coach Bradley Seal said he thought the Raiders did pretty well.
“I didn’t see too many drops,” Seal said. “I thought we caught the ball pretty good. There were a couple of things sloppy on offense and sloppy on defense. When you’re out here that long, you tend to lose focus, but overall I thought we had a good day.”
Seal said offensively his club was able to hit some crossing routes.
“Delvric Dillon had a real good day. I thought we looked well crossing it,” Seal said.
Defensively, Seal said he was happy with the way his safeties played.
“I thought our starting safeties played pretty well,” Seal said.
Varnado will play Bogalusa at home for the teams’ fall scrimmage Aug. 17 while Pine’s scrimmage is at Jewel Sumner the following day.
The three local teams from this 7-on-7 along with Franklinton will be competing in the Washington Parish Jamboree Aug. 25 at Franklinton, and will open the regular season at various locations Sept. 1.