On July 6 and 7, the Avery Vikings welcomed a number of visiting teams to MacDonald Stadium for a 7-on-7 passing league. Joining the Big Red in the activities were the Highlanders from neighboring Cloudland (TN), as well as another neighbor in the Mitchell Mountaineers. Teams took part in what amounted to round-robin competition as schools took turns playing one another. The goal of the offense was to drive the football to the end zone through the air from 40 yards away against an opposing defensive secondary.
Multiple teams played without key contributors at times due to family vacation and other summer activities, but players who participated left everything on the field as they worked to improve both themselves and their team.
“This has been really good for us. It has allowed our receivers to run some sharp routes on offense, and it makes your secondary concentrate solely on defending the ball and defending the pass,” Avery head football coach Darrell Brewer said regarding the event. “It is competition, and you can see the kids out there competing hard and wanting to win. We have got a team of competitors this year, and I’ve been really proud of them.”
On Monday Avery was without a number of regulars who had been participating and contributing throughout the spring and summer. However, those players in attendance stepped up admirably, and the group who worked together the following day ran like a well-oiled machine.
“We had several kids missing on Monday who had attended the Gardner-Webb camp and we were out of sync a little with out new kids. But we came together Tuesday and didn’t miss a beat,” Coach Brewer continued. “I was proud of the team’s focus, especially on that second day.”
The Vikings continue to build up to the season-opener at Robbinsville, working to improve in all areas and erase the sour taste of a 2-10 campaign in 2008.
“Going into spring practice, I knew that most of the varsity team this year would be players from last year’s junior varsity team, with the exception of about five returning players. It’s a whole new group of young kids, but you really forget how young they really are,” Coach Brewer explained. “The players are such competitors and play with such passion, that you look at them and sometimes forget that they’re just pups. We’ve been pleased with their progress.”
Following the event, it was obvious to see the respect the competing teams had for one another, as well as the desire to help each other improve as the fall approaches. It allowed the Vikings a unique opportunity to watch and compete against partial squads from three of their opponents in the upcoming season.
“I think both Mitchell and Cloudland had a few kids missing and was in kind of the same boat we were in. Both of them are teams we know as rivals but we know that neither team takes a play off. You always expect them to play disciplined, hard-nosed football,” Coach Brewer added. “West Wilkes had brought their entire team up for camp, and they basically had all hands on deck.”
Although the Vikings may not quite possess the offensive firepower in years past, this year’s squad is out to prove it can achieve great things, executing offensively in a variety of ways, whether by running or throwing the football.
“Alex (QB Villanueva) is one of those kids that you forget is only going to be a sophomore. The way he’s handled himself throughout the summer doesn’t give any indication that he’s just in his sophomore season,” Coach Brewer added. “He’s just got an air about him, and we believe we will throw the football with success.”
The recent 7-on-7, as well as activities such as the upcoming six-squad scrimmage in August, are events the Avery coaches hope can take place annually given the ability to use the stadium’s Field Turf surface in greater volume than the natural surface of years past.
“Having the field we have, the sky’s the limit to the things we can do. We’ve never had anything like this in the past because we’ve had to stay off the field as much as possible to allow the ground to recover and grass to grow,” Coach Brewer said. “I would love for us to have a huge passing tournament with a lot of schools coming in, doing t-shirts and trophies and that type of thing. With what we enjoy now, we’re able to have six-team scrimmages and the 7-on-7s that we just had no way of doing before.”
Avery’s next large-scale team event will be a scrimmage that will take place in the second week of August, a final tune-up as teams prepare for opening night on August 21st.
