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BRAZOS – The Rice Consolidated High School 7-on-7 football team broke a decade-long trend by qualifying for the state competition in June after a solid performance in pool play followed by a tight win against the host school.
The summer session of 7-on-7 is a brand of football that focuses solely on passing, highlighting the technique and abilities of receivers’ route running and defensive backs’ coverage.
The Raiders team displayed both throughout their run, earning a spot in the state tournament in just the third week of the season.
Teams have several chances throughout 7-on-7 season to qualify for state in “state-qualifier tournaments.” Winners of those competitions earn an automatic bid, despite the results in the remainder of their season.
The last time the Raiders qualified for state was in 2014 following a playoff appearance during the fall football season. After a decade-long break, they finally broke through and secured their spot in the competition.
The Raiders showed their composure as they had to battle through several tight games to earn the victory.
They began pool play with a game against Tidehaven that resulted in a 20-12 victory. In their next game, they faced off against Lexington in a matchup that went to overtime tied at 20-20. Lexington took the advantage in OT to win the game 27-20, but the Raiders gave the toughest challenge to an Eagles team that went undefeated at the tournament and finished with a 26-point average margin of victory in the rest of their games.
Rice moved on to face off against Van Vleck where they held on for a hard-fought 19-18 win that secured their spot in the state-qualifying round.
The Raiders once again displayed immense focus and composure, taking a low-scoring 6-0 win over Wallis Brazos to claim their spot in the state game.
The 7-on-7 state tournament will be hosted by Veterans Park and Athletic Complex at 3101 Harvey Road in College Station from June 27 to June 29.
