War Eagles strong again in 7-on-7
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
SPRINGDALE - If 7-on-7 was a yardstick for a team's regular season, Rogers Heritage might be one of the best teams in state. But coach Perry Escalante knows it is only a summer game. On Monday night at Har-Ber High School, the War Eagles looked impressive against Har-Ber, Pea Ridge and Fort Smith Northside in an "informal"finale to the Northwest Arkansas 7-on-7 Passing League. After the competition ended, Escalante was quick to remind his team that summer success is nothing compared to Friday nights. "It is a whole different animal," Escalante told his team. Sophomore quarterback Reed Brown received a majority of snaps under center. Junior Casey Wilbur, who is also competing for the starting quarterback position, was not at Har-Ber because of a minor illness, Escalante said. Sophomore Jimmy Britton did get a few snaps under center mostly at the tail end of the games and in the very unofficial fourth junior varsity game at the end of the festivities. Brown looked impressive throwing accurate short and deep passes. In the War Eagles' first game against 7 A-West Conference foe Har-Ber, Brown threw four touchdown passes and led the war Eagles to a 35-14. Heritage then defeated conference foe Northside 28-14 and beat Pea Ridge 21-7. Brown threw only one interception the entire night. "He didn't throw many bad balls," Escalante said. "He looked pretty good."
Escalante said Brown is a "little ahead"of Wilbur for the starting quarterback spot. Wilbur has been getting a lot of work at receiver.
Escalante was proud of his team's performance but did not pay much attention to the scores. In fact very few of the coaches even kept track of the scores. All schools played a combination of players from starting varsity to junior varsity. "This was pretty informal night and we needed that," Escalante said. Most coaches know the real season comes on Friday nights when their teams have 11-men on the field, complete with running backs and an offensive line. "When we start the season you can take the 7-on-7 and throw it out the window," Escalante said. The War Eagles had at least one interception in every game and even recorded a few sacks due to time. Escalante said the sacks show that his secondary was doing its job. Even though Heritage's defense looked sharp, even the players understand that 7-on-7 is nothing compared to the fall. "It is completely different than real football," said defensive back Jacob Barrett, who had two interceptions. "It is passing all the all the time. "The War Eagles will continue 7- on-7 passing competition on Thursday when they travel to Siloam Springs.
This is Pea Ridge's first summer participating in 7-on-7 competition. The game is completely a different style for the Blackhawks.
"We have always been a run-oriented team," said Pea Ridge coach Mark Laster. "I told my players to work on being better at what we do."
Like Escalante, Laster wasn't keeping score.
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