Local football teams play 7-on-7
Blairsville, Ga. – Though he’s not a huge fan of 7-on-7s, Wildcats head coach James Phillips knew his team was out at Union County High School to scrimmage the Panthers and Gilmer High School for exactly one reason.
“It’s about coming out and getting reps,” Phillips said. “Reps and reps and reps, and we did. We got three games out here today, and we probably got over 100 reps, which is good for our kids because we’re so inexperienced in a lot of those spots.
“Most of our experience coming back is up front, and that don’t do you any good in these 7-on-7s.”
The start of summer workouts last week officially started a new chapter in Wildcats’ football after a historic 2022 that saw the program finish 13-1 and win their first Smoky Mountain Conference championship since 1983. The great senior class that powered that run is gone, and though Andrews returns some good experience up front with seniors Dalton Rose and Tyler West, it’s almost an entirely new group at the skill positions.
Last year’s team had a large group of sophomores, a few who received significant playing time while most were backups. This summer’s about making sure those now juniors are ready for starting roles as well as getting ready to play both ways, a necessity for one of the smallest schools playing football in North Carolina.
The Wildcats played two 20-minute games against Union County, with the offense starting at the 40-yard line and first down markers at the 25 yard line and 10 yard line. Against Gilmer County, both teams had 10 minutes of offense, with plays always starting at the 40 yard line.
With Andrews only starting summer workouts that week, there’s predictably a lot to work on. Against a Union County team that’s returning almost all its skill from a balanced attack, the Wildcats suffered 19-6 and 33-7 defeats.
On offense, Phillips wanted to see timing of routes and chemistry between quarterback Everett Tatham and his receivers continue to improve. On defense, the Wildcats need to get used to communicating coverages and switching coverages based on certain motions while staying within the rules they have for the defense.
Still, Phillips saw bright spots on the day, specifically with Tatham’s ability to flush bad plays and the play-making ability of both Eli Aguilar and Samuel Preston. There’s still a lot to improve, but this appears to be a group that’s willing to work.
Phillips is entering his eighth season as Andrews head coach, and remembers being frustrated in some of the early seasons because they would only have six or seven players at summer workouts.
The Wildcats had 17-18 kids in the first week of workouts, and had 18-20 lifting in the weight room in the offseason. Andrews has two more 7-on-7s scheduled this summer, traveling to Hendersonville on Thursday and then hosting Franklin on Thursday, July 13.
“It’s just about chipping away at it,” Phillips said. “We lost a great group with some good experience, but we’ve lost groups that have graduated before and you go back and just start coaching the crap out of the next group.”