2021 State Tourney Videos, photos and highlight video

 2021 State Tourney Videos, photos and highlight video posted on the web site!

http://lamarvikings7on7.com/

VFND!

Coach Comments-End of Season

The Vikes played in the maximum number of local qualifying tournaments (7) this season. This allowed us to get a lot of additional “reps” since there was no spring football at Lamar due to the coaching change. We won the 5th SQT of the season but continued to go participate even after qualifying.

Every year when we receive our “pool” opponents, I do research on each of the three teams to try and get a feel for them prior to traveling to College Station. One of the items of note was that the three of them combined had only participated in five state qualifying tournaments compared to our seven! It is possible they had scrimmages with other teams but that is a lot of extra reps by our kids in a game environment. As you would expect it was hot and humid in College Station and our pool games started at 1 pm and ended about 5 pm. Our conditioning played a big part in our 2-1 record. It was noticeable in our last game versus Garland. They have at least 4 D-1 recruits and were very athletic. But over the course of the game our conditioning really paid off and we won the game.

Most everyone that follows 7 on 7 in the state knows about Lamar’s 23 qualifications in a row. What is not as known, but perhaps more impressive, is we have advanced to the Championship Bracket 19 out of 23 years. This means we finished 1st or 2nd in a 4-team pool 83% of the time over nearly a quarter of a century! Every school in the tournament won a state qualifying tournament just to get to College Station. In other words, “we don’t just qualify we compete” year in and year out. Great job Vikings!

On Saturday we drew a truly impressive Austin Westlake team in the first game of a single elimination tournament. Their QB recently committed to Clemson, and he has led the Chapparals to TWO Class 6-A State Football Championships in a row and will try to threepeat this upcoming season. The final score was 55-34 so we were very competitive; we just could not quite match their offensive firepower.

Overall, I think this season did three things: 1. Bonded the players after a rough pandemic year and a change of football staffs; 2. Gave them literally hundreds of reps in game type situations and 3. Handled the pressure of maintaining the mantle as the only team in Texas to qualify every season. It is a very exclusive Club and they joined it. Our job is to send them back to fall football better than when we started with them in March, and I believe we accomplished that.

BIG Thanks to Angie Morris as our volunteer coordinator; her energy level and enthusiasm is unmatched. Also, KUDOS to Julian, Spencer, Barry, Chris, and JR for another excellent job of coaching up these players to perform at such a high level. I am pleased to report that EACH of them has agreed to come back in 2022 to go for 24 in a row. VFND!

Jim Poynter

A Report from Day 1 in College Station

 From Coach Poynter:

The Vikings went 2-1 on Friday.

So we advance to the 32 team championship bracket on Saturday.

The Vikings will play Austin Westlake tomorrow at 8:45 am.

 

VFND

Watch LIVE action from the Texas 7 on 7 Tournament

 

Week# 8

Coach Comments # 8

It is STATE 7 ON 7 CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK-Finally! After no season in 2020 it has been two years since the Vikes traveled to College Station to compete against the best high school programs in Texas. Now that the State Qualifying Tournaments across the state are complete the UPDATED ALL TIME TOP 5 QUALIFYING LIST IS:

TOP 5 ALL TIME STATE QUALIFIERS IN DIVISION-1
1. ARLINGTON LAMAR    23/23 YEARS
2.   CYPRESS FAIRBANKS       21/23 YEARS
3.   KATY                20/23 YEARS (tied)
3.   THE WOODLANDS       20/23 YEARS (tied)
3.   ABILENE                20/23 YEARS (tied)


All but Katy HS qualified in 2021 although Southlake has decided not to participate in the State Tournament this year. Out of 1450 high schools in Texas this is somthing Viking Nation can be very proud to be the all-time leader. Just as remarkable ALL 23 of the Lamar qualifications have been “on the road” meaning never in a home tournament!  
Here are links that all fans will want including a way to watch the action “live” from home!

Live action: https://twitter.com/Texan_Live/status/1405241790127644672   

Pool:    Be sure to look for Division 1 Pool H 2021 70n7 H Pools    

2021 Roster: 2021 Roster

Primer on State Tournament: https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2021/06/21/2021-texas-7-on-7-state-tournament-primer?ref=article_preview_img

We will depart LHS at 1:00 pm this Thursday and be back sometime Saturday evening. VFND!
Coach Jim Poynter

Week #7

7th Coach Comments-2021

Last Friday night the Vikes participated in the Lamar SQT which was held at Arlington High. Having qualified the week before the Vikes could only participate in pool play which is 3 games. We like to play in the maximum number of SQT’s because the kids like to face off against other high schools as much as possible under game conditions. So, this was the 6/7 SQT’s we will participate in prior to the state tournament next week.
Friday night was our opportunity to play all our younger or less experienced players extensively. Sirawn Evans our “to be” sophomore QB has been very patient waiting to get playing time at QB. He played 5 of the 6 halves for us Friday and did a good job and got better each game. Our starting QB Jaden Morris played center and was our coach on the field. Jaden showed great leadership in helping Sirawn call plays and offering him encouragement. Even though winning was not the emphasis this week, we did go 2-1 running our season record to 13-6.
This week we start practicing with the state tournament more front of mind. We will take the 20 players most likely to go to State to Keller this Friday for the final SQT of the season. This will give us 3 games to get this group ready to go.



VFND!
Coach Poynter

Week #6

 The Vikings traveled to Pennington Field in Bedford for the 5th of 7 state qualifying tournaments in north Texas this season. As most everyone knows, Lamar is the only HS team in Texas to qualify for the state tournament every year of its existence. We talk to the team about “protecting the record” from the first day of practice. As I said in the first coach comments back in March, there was no 2020 7 on 7 season because of the pandemic. Because we missed a year, we literally had never met the players; let alone coached them. So, we knew building trust early with each other would be important. Then, unexpectedly Coach DeLay and some of his staff left LHS. So, football related activities such as spring football were put on hold. To help fill the void we scheduled extra 7 on 7 practice each week. We knew it was important for some continuity at least as a 7 on 7 team. So, all these factors meant we had extra challenges to qualify this season. We kept telling the players to stay focused on the things we COULD (effort; practice; conditioning) control and not worry about the other things like hiring a new HFC and staff; that would eventually come together. Still, we did not qualify through the first four tournaments. Down to three remaining tournaments the pressure to “perform” really started to mount. Could we stay focused and positive as a team and TRUST one another?

Last Saturday the Vikes did just that, keeping their poise and meeting the challenge, going 4-0 to qualify for the 23rd year! This showed me the guts this team has, and I think there were some real-life lessons learned about perseverance and performing under pressure. Couple qualifying with the hiring of Lamar’s own Billy Skinner as HFC and a great staff, things are really looking up!

We will still compete in the last two tournaments to get some of our younger players some varsity level competition and to stay sharp for the trip to College Station 6/24-6/26. I am very proud of these young men and their resilience. Join me in congratulation the newest members of this very exclusive club!

Coach Poynter

Week #5

 Coach comments # 5

The Vikes traveled to Northwest HS in Justin to compete in the 4th of 7 state qualifying tournaments scheduled in north Texas this season. As has been the case so far this season, we played well at times but struggled at others. We will have to iron out these “ups and downs” if we are to qualify this season. In most qualifying tournaments you need to go 4-0 on the day to be sure you are “in”. We have only been able to put together 2 wins in a row so far in 2021 so therein lies the challenge.
We went 1-1 in the pool games that mattered Saturday. By that I mean the third game did not count as it was against a team that had previously qualified. The first game the Vikes played well on both sides of the ball and won 26-6. The second game against Trophy Club was very close. They ran an effective offense against our “zone” defense and took the lead 20-13 at the half. Our coaches elected to play more “man” defense in the 2nd half and really slowed down their offense. Despite turning the ball over on downs and an interception the Vikings nearly won the game at the end with a beautiful long throw and catch. Unfortunately, time expired before we could get off a final play, so it goes down as a 20-19 defeat. In the 3rd game we played everyone to give some game experience to some of the younger or less experienced players.
We did have an unfortunate incident Saturday where one of our players and one of the TC players were ejected for the rest of the tournament for fighting. After visiting with our player Saturday evening his remorse was clear and he will be apologizing to the entire team at practice Thursday. There is no place for losing control; we teach our Vikings to compete and play hard but within the rules. Our team reputation, built up over two decades of competing is excellent within the 7 on 7 community. But like anything in life, a team or individual’s reputation can be destroyed in an instance and NO ONE has the right to do that. Some may wish for a harsher penalty, but I would rather teach with love and trust that the lesson sticks.
This Saturday we travel to LD Bell for the next SQT. We will post the pools later in the week.
VFND!
Coach Poynter  

Week 4

 Coach Comments

For the 3rd week in a row, the Vikes finished 2-1 and 2nd place in their pool out of 4 teams. We are 6-3 on the season. Our play on defense was particularly good again this week with two more “pick sixes” and several other interceptions. We are playing well at times on offense but need to be more consistent. But the effort and attitude on both sides of the ball is outstanding. We are close and we will get there (qualified).
Of note, we played Southlake Carroll on their home field in game 3 this past Saturday even though it was the Grapevine SQT (due to weather concerns). SLC has a consistently top-rated fall and 7 on 7 program as does Lamar. SLC’s QB, Quinn Ewers, is considered the #1 high school QB prospect in the nation in the Class of 2022 and is committed to Ohio State on a football scholarship. So, we knew we had to play our best against him and the Dragons to advance to the qualifying round.
Our offense struck first with a beautiful pass from Jaden Morris to Darrick Bledsoe for a TD. It was an even game most of the way with the score 14-13 SLC at the half. The Vikings managed to intercept Ewers twice, the last time with just a few minutes left in the game and the Vikes down by 6 points. A score and extra point would win the game for the Vikes but SLC managed to stop us just short and won 26-20.
In EACH of the first 3 SQT’s the team that won our pool also won the qualifying game. That is a good sign in that we are barely losing to teams that have qualified for the state tournament. We are NOT satisfied with “almost” and the kids and coaches will put in the work and extra effort to get the Viking program qualified for the 23nd year in a row.
This week we travel to Justin to the Northwest HS SQT. We will practice Thursday and then leave bright and early Saturday for Justin to take care of business.

VFND!

Coach Poynter 

Photos from the SLC SQT

2021 Coach Comments Week 3

The Vikes traveled to Arlington High for the 2^nd SQT of the season. For the second week in a row there was a 3-way tie in the pool after 2 games. Since “points scored” is the first tie breaker the Vikes were +6 meaning even if we lost the last game, as long as we lost by 5 or less, we would advance to the qualifying round. Down by just 3 with under two minutes left in the game Denton Guyer managed to score as time expired so they won the tie breaker; advanced to the qualifying round and won that game as well to qualify for the State Tournament in June. As you can imagine it was a tough way to finish the day. None the less a lot of good has come from these first two tournaments,. We are 4-2 and just need to take care of the little things more consistently and we will reach our goal of qualifying for the 22^nd year. The EFFORT is there for sure.

 

Several items of note as we settle into the season:

 

• The 25% shorter games places, a real premium on scoring each possession and getting 1-2 “stops” on defense. There is just not much time to make up ground each half.

• Extra point conversions are more valuable for the same reason (limited possessions).

• The weather (cool; wet) has made it hard for all teams to get into “summer heat” shape.

 

Saturday, we travel to Southlake Carroll Senior HS even though it is the Grapevine SQT. The reason is the anticipated wet weather necessitates putting some teams nearby to a second indoor facility, should it be needed due to storms. So, we will hopefully start outdoors at SLC and only move inside their “bubble” if necessary. Note there is a charge for admission for spectators; $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for students. The revised pool and physical address are posted on this site.

 

VFND

Coach Poynter

2021 Message Number Two

The Vikes traveled to Plano last Saturday for the first State Qualifying Tournament (SQT) of the 2021 season. It was a very windy day and that coupled with the new rule shortening games by 25%, kept scores down for all 24 teams for the most part. Below are the results of our pool:

 

Denton Guyer 40, North Garland 7

 

Frisco Wakeland 29, Arlington Lamar 20

 

Arlington Lamar 19, Denton Guyer 7

 

Frisco Wakeland 27, North Garland 12

 

Denton Guyer 25, Frisco Wakeland 19

 

Arlington Lamar 14, North Garland 12

 

 

3-way tie at 2-1 between Frisco/Lamar/Guyer. 1st “tie breaker” is points scored; only points scored between the 3 teams in the tie are counted:

 

Frisco: 29 + 19 = 48 (most points so pool winner)

Lamar: 20 + 19 = 39

Guyer:   7 + 25 = 32

 

Frisco advanced to the qualifying round and won so they have now qualified for the State tournament.

 

For 2nd place the first tie breaker is “head to head”. Lamar beat Guyer so Lamar finished 2nd. Guyer 3rd; NG 4^th

 

As you can see when we played well, we were probably the team to beat. Guyer beat Wakeland 25-19 and we beat Guyer 19-7. We were not as consistent as we need to be and we will have to learn to play up to our ability and not “down” to the competition. We did some really good things Saturday as well. So, while we have a lot of things to “clean up” our overall effort was good.

 

This Saturday (5/15) we play in the Arlington SQT. There are 7 total SQT’s that we intend to play in this season prior to the State Championship tournament in late June.

 

GO VIKES!

 

Coach Poynter

 

2021 Message #1

In all aspects of life 2020 was a year unlike any other in memory. The Viking 7 on 7 team, like so many other teams and sports across the country were gearing up for their seasons and then the door closed shut on all of them.

In the case of high school sports, missing an entire season is a big chunk of most players 2-3 years of participation/development. Like the other 1400 + high schools in Texas the Viking 7 on 7 coaching staff are comprised of unpaid volunteers. Because we have had literally no physical access during 2020, we have not even met most of the players! In the case of large schools such as Lamar, most sophomores play sub varsity 7 on 7; then move up to varsity their junior or even senior years. So missing last season means we are forming the 2021 team with no prior relationship with the players nor them with us as coaches!

So, developing TRUST with the kids right from the start will be very important. There is no question that you will play harder and “bond” with your teammates if like them and trust them. Same goes for the player/coach relationship. We are so fortunate to have 3 assistant coaches who not only played football and 7 on 7 for the Vikings, but now have more than 10 years of varsity 7 on 7 coaching experience each! I am very proud of these young men and know they will role up their sleeves and get to know each player as a person and an athlete as quickly as possible.

Having said that, we only have four practices prior to our first state qualifying tournament (SQT)! So, with a limited knowledge of the players going in and so few practices it may take a few SQT’s to find our footing as a team, but we will get there IF we use our time wisely and efficiently. We must have as many of the players present as possible for each practice ready to go with mask/gaiter; cleats; mouthpiece; helmet (we will provide at the first practice) and personal water. PLEASE parents help us by having them responsible for these items and on time for all events.

Playing time is naturally important to all athletes. As you know by high school and particularly varsity PT is merit based. We are allowed by rule to take 20 players to a tournament. We currently have 31 prospective players. How an athlete does in spring football carries a lot of weight as to who gets “PT” in 7 on 7. We (7 on 7) exist to support the growth of the football team. SO BE SURE YOUR SON KNOWS HE NEEDS TO IMPRESS THE FOOTBALL STAFF IN SPRING BALL IN ADDITION TO THE 7 ON 7 STAFF. We do not “cut” players (without cause), but we do not promise any tournament playing time either.

I am pleased to report that Angie Morris and Mendi Schutte have agreed to be our coordinators for the team. Getting the water; tents; food; rides; uniforms; monies collected etc., are jobs that have to be done for us to be successful and they will need your help! In that regard we will have a parent meeting at 4:30 pm on Saturday 4/24 at Cravens immediately after practice (come out early and watch if you like).

Let’s roll VIKES!
VFND,
Coach Poynter