Local football teams play 7-on-7
Cullowhee – As head coach Joseph Watson brought his team together before a 7-on-7 event at Western Carolina University on June 14, he reminded his players of two things.
Watson told them 7-on-7 is “not real football,” which is especially true in the run-heavy Smoky Mountain Conference. But despite looking different than what the Bulldogs will do this fall, he still wanted his team to go out and compete.
Though it took a little bit to get back up to game speed, Murphy eventually held its own against some tough competition.
“Anytime you can get some competitive reps and competitive actions against teams you don’t usually play it’s good for us to be able to do that,” Watson said. “And to be able to evaluate our kids early in the summer. See what they need to work at, see what they need to do to get better and as coaches what we need to do to get better and put them in better position to be successful.”
The Bulldogs were one of three teams at the event, joining Hillcrest, S.C., and Burns High School. Hillcrest is a 5A school in South Carolina with more than 2,000 students that went 9-2 last year, while Burns was 13-2 and fell to perennial power Reidsville in the 2A West regional championship.
Murphy played two games against both teams and came up short in all four games, though stayed competitive outside of the first game, which was a 28-6 loss to Hillside. The Bulldogs played the Rams again in the last game of the night, and took a 20-19 lead in the final minute before Hillside scored with just seconds remaining, though the Rams got some more time than initially expected due to a scoreboard malfunction.
The games were 20 minutes each, with teams starting at the 40-yard line and needing to get to the 20-yard line for a first down and then a touchdown. Murphy lost to Burns by scores of 14-6 and 21-12.
“I feel like we kind of got here slow and had to adjust to the speed a little bit,” Watson said. “Over the summer, you’re playing against yourself for the last couple weeks, and you’re coming in and adjusting to a different speed and a different scheme. That’s good for us to play something new and play something different.”
Murphy graduated 16 seniors from a 9-4 team last year, which means there’s playing time up for grabs all over the field. The Bulldogs return a 2,000-yard rusher in senior Hunter Stalcup, but need to break in a new quarterback and find which other pieces on offense fit best around him. Sophomore Brady Grant looks to be the starting quarterback after spending the last two years under center for the junior varsity team, and he has options in the passing game in Stalcup, seniors Trenton Russell and Dominick Rummler and junior Ryan Payne.
There’s similar holes to fill defensively, with Murphy returning two of its three leading tacklers in Stalcup and junior Kadence Leatherwood but spots to fill at all three levels. Defense in 7-on-7 is mainly for linebackers and defensive backs, and players like Payne, Jonah Hedden, Will Shore and Brody Orton look to be settling into bigger roles on that side of the ball. The Bulldogs defense didn’t get burned for a lot of big plays, but did not get a stop in any of the four games.
Murphy started workouts June 5, and Watson said the goal of the workouts is to maintain the strength gained from offseason weightlifting while getting some work in on the field and building team chemistry. It’s something he saw in the team’s final game, where Russell made an impressive play for a go-ahead catch and was then mobbed by teammates.
“Got down to the end and a team that was a really good team and had a chance to win, and our kids were battling and pulling for each other,” Watson said. “And that’s what we want to see.”
Workouts will continue all summer, except for the N.C. High School Athletic Association mandated dead periods from July 3-9 and July 17-23. The Bulldogs are scheduled for one more 7-on-7 at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville on Thursday, July 13, before fall sports can officially start practicing Monday, July 31.