7 on 7 team to play in Abilene

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany’s 7on7 summer football team won two out of three games in Archer City last Saturday, and local players will have one more shot to qualify for the state tournament.

Thanks to a last-minute withdrawal by the Junction team, the Albany 7on7 team will play in the final qualifying tournament of the season on Friday at McMurry University in Abilene.

Albany will play teams from Hawley, Brady, and Comanche to attempt to earn a spot in the state tournament in College Station later in June. The deadline to qualify for state is Friday, and Albany must win all three games to advance.

The local athletes are competing in the Division 3 bracket which includes 2A and 3A high schools.

The Archer City tournament was the first of the season for Albany since several players had been involved in the Albany Lions baseball playoffs. The 7on7 season actually started back in May for most teams across the state.

The Archer City tourney had two pools, a total of eight teams. In order to qualify for state, Albany players would have had to win their pool.

The local team had hoped to have another chance in the Abilene tournament that will qualify two more teams.

“We were able to get in the tournament on Friday at McMurry because another team dropped out,” coach Anthony Ceder said on Tuesday night. “We were on the wait list for a couple of tournaments to see if a team dropped out.”

Ceder said that there is also a possibility that the team may be able to pick up some individual games if they are allowed to join a league organized by Anson.

Local players won the first two rounds at Archer City, defeating Olney 42-0 and Merkel 39-6.They played Archer City in the final round, losing 20-14.

“That was the guys’ first tournament, and we still had a couple of people out with injuries suffered in baseball,” said Kevin Hill, who accompanied the group last Saturday. “We just got a late start, and we’re dealing with some injured players.”

Albany last qualified for the state tournament in 2019. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The guys played extremely well at Archer City,” Ceder said. “It is unfortunate we started so late, but the guys are excited about this opportunity to still qualify for state.”