END OF 2023 RECAP
It has been a while since I updated you all and I will endeavor below to catch everyone up on the last half of the season and the state tournament.
After we qualified at the Allen SQT, we had a sudden rash of injuries hit us, all on the offensive side of the ball. Fortunately none were too serious and all FOUR players should be back at full strength for fall football camp and the season. None the less, in my 21 years coaching, we have never lost 4 out of 7 starters on one side of the ball! Gregory Williams, Deante Gentry, Jessie Little and Sevan Ogletree all missed the last few SQT's AND the State Championship. We actually played three upcoming 9th graders in the last SQT at Keller Fossil Ridge, just prior to State.
We started mostly underclassmen all season. Now we were even younger and less experienced as we traveled to the State tournament last week. Fortunately, our defensive top10 players were fine health wise.
We arrived in College Station (20 active players, 4 inactive and 5 coaches) last Thursday, not really sure what to expect in pool play. We knew we would find out quickly as our first games was against Houston Lamar, a 9-3 football team last fall that went two rounds deep in the football playoffs in 2022. In the battle of LAMAR'S, our guys played really solid on both sides of the ball with a pick six on defense and a great game by one of our back up wide receivers, Bakr Elsaad. The "northside" Vikes won the game to go 1-0 in pool. In game 2 we faced a team from the Rio Grande Valley called PSJA. This was their first trip to College Station but they played with a lot of intensity and pushed the Vikes to the brink before we won the game in OT 26-20. In game 3 we faced Wylie East with both teams 2-0 going in to the game. Knowing we would advance win or lose to the championship bracket on Saturday, we played certain starters more sparingly to get them some rest, and we lost the game to finish pool play 2-1. Most fans are aware that we have qualified for 24 of the 25 years of the state tournament. But perhaps more impressive is the Vikings have now made it to the championship bracket 20 out of the 24 seasons (83.3%) meaning "we don't just go we show".
On Saturday we played another Valley HS, PSJA-North. We were very disappointed to lose this game. Of some consolation PSJAN made a nice run to the quarterfinals, losing to Round Rock who won the championship. It was the deepest run by a Valley team in the tournament's history.
Overall, considering how young our team was and the injuries sustained, it was a strong season. We definitely identified some less experienced players who may be ready this season to help the varsity football team, which is one of our goals each year in 7/7.
A huge thank you to our team sponsors, (First Rate, DS Waters, The Huggin's and The Kelly's) for their donations to help defray our team costs. Likewise, Jay Ryan who keeps this website looking good and filled with useful information and has done so for so many years for us. Thanks also to our excellent 7/7 volunteer coaching staff and the endless help by the Carey's, Garrett and Shannon.
See you next year!
VFND
Coach Poynter
