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The 7 on 7 teams for the Rice Raiders gave themselves a chance to compete for a spot in the State Tournament later this month after hosting a qualifier tournament that featured several teams from around the area. The teams included the Raiders, East Bernard, Tidehaven, Weimar, Ganado, Louise, Brazos and Somerville.
The Raiders got off to a tough start in their first game against East Bernard. They could not get their offense going as the Brahmas built up their score. Rice eventually fell 20-6 to their opponents after not finding enough stops to keep things close. They bounced back in a huge way when they faced the nearby Weimar Wildcats for the second game of the tournament. The Raiders had none of the same issues from earlier with scoring as they ran out to a 26-8 victory. Pool play concluded for the Raiders with a tough defeat to Tidehaven. Both teams were able to score high totals, but Rice eventually could not keep up with Tidehaven’s scoring as the Raiders fell to a 2718 loss.
After moving on to the state-qualifier round, the Raiders had given themselves a chance to lock in their state appearance and save an early spot in the final tournament. However, the Ganado Indians took that chance away after defeating the Raiders in a 26-15 bout that allowed Ganado to book their ticket to College Station. Tidehaven was the other team to qualify following the qualifier tournament.
Each qualifier tournament allows for two teams to move on to the 7 on 7 state tournament to be held on June 22-24 in College Station.
