PREPARING FOR THE POST SEASON

Last Saturday (6/3) we participated in our 3rd State Qualifying Tournament of the Season. It was a rainy, cool morning and we were thankful to be on field turf at Pennington Field instead of real grass (mud).

Our objective going into this tournament was to get a good look under game conditions at some of our younger players on both sides of the ball. Although the Vikes want to win every time we compete, getting reps for these players trumped final score. Having said that we finished 2-1 which runs our season record to 8-2.

In our upcoming 4/6 SQT's this Saturday (6/10) we begin to focus on the 20 players we believe to be likely to make our State roster. Believe it or not, we have just FIVE PRACTICES remaining until we travel to College Station. So these 3 SQT's and 5 practices will determine in large part how successful we will be this season. We will begin to set lineups and play with more speed and recognition as we grow accustomed to playing together. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT THE PLAYERS GET TO EVERY PRACTICE THE REST OF THE WAY. The practice/tournament schedule is attached as a PDF to the web site.

 VFND AND "20/20",

Coach Poynter

VIKINGS SECURE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BIRTH AT GRAPEVINE SQT

On a truly hot and muggy Saturday the Viking players rolled to a 4-0 record and it was NOT EASY.
We were not as sharp on either side of the ball this week as we were in Frisco and there were two primary factor:  1. We were less than 48 hours removed from the spring football scrimmage and 2. The weather (hot and windy). While we got through spring football with just a couple of injuries (Sam and Elijah) the players bodies were still recovering from contact and the spring game. Even though we were physically more tired this week the kids did not use that as an excuse and played hard and with a lot of enthusiasm. We came from behind to win games 3 and 4 which showed a lot of character. There is real pressure for any Viking 7 on 7 team to get qualified with a streak this long. NO ONE WANTS TO BE REMEMBERED AS THE TEAM THAT DID NOT "GET IT DONE". We talk about it frankly right from the first practice of the season. Still it is always a big relief for all of us when it is "done" for another year. SO CONGRATS TO THE 2017 TEAM-THEY HAVE JOINED THE "CLUB"!

We now have time to work on a number of things in practice and in the 4 remaining tournaments. We will play different player groups at times as we try to determine who will be on the final roster for State. We will not make that determination for at least a few weeks. ONE THING FOR SURE IS WE CANNOT COMPETE AT STATE PLAYING THE SAME 7-8 PLAYERS ON OFFENSE AND DEFENSE AS WE DID THE FIRST FEW WEEKS. We now MUST develop 20 players who can play and contribute because will play up to 8 games in two days against very good teams in very hot weather. So rotating players is a must. I have said this for years the teams that go deep have 20 players not just a roster of 20. 

Now the work begins to identify those players and our rotations.

VFND AND "20/20"

Jim Poynter

5/22/17

Very solid start to the varsity 7 on 7 season this past Saturday at the first state qualifier of the year. While we just missed winning our pool and moving on to the qualifying round there were a number of very positive signs that this can be a very good Viking team.

Scores:

Lamar 55  Frisco Reedy 13
Lamar 42 Lake Dallas 6
Plano 39 Lamar 26

• Defense allowed just 19 points per game; in just three games we had 7 interceptions; two were returned for TD's (pick 6). Two more came really close to going back for scores. THAT IS OUTSTANDING WORK.
• Offense averaged 43 points per game. Only twice in three games did we turn the ball over on downs or interception which means we were making good decisions and then executing the plays. On all important extra points we made 14-17 which is an excellent conversion ratio. Our starting receivers caught, 23, 18, 17, 12 and 5 passes each for the day which is great ball distribution.

Our "secret sauce" is to score consistently and then get two "stops" on D per half.  We came very close to meeting that challenge Saturday. The energy and effort was good all day. I really like the way we fought back from being behind twice in the 3rd game to tie the score. We will need to learn to win from behind and we will.

 All in all a very good first tournament.

Coach Poynter
VFND
"20/20"

4/20/17

By this Saturday we will have 5 preseason practices under our belt and it is a good thing as our first state qualifier has been moved up to Saturday 4/29.

The host school Frisco Heritage, has worked out a deal with the Dallas Cowboys so the 24 team tournament can be held at the "Star", the Cowboys new HQ and practice facility in Frisco. Not only will this be an opportunity for all of us to tour the new facility but the kids get to play there. It is also NFL Draft weekend so there will be lots of media about the premises as well.

We do not have a lot of details just yet but they will be forthcoming early next week so stay tuned!

We have made good progress as a team over the last month. It is a challenge for the kids and coaches a like as we see them only once per week right now and many have "in season" sports along with school to fit in the rest of the week. So any practices in the preseason are beneficial and should make a difference over the course of the season. We will have a few kids miss the Frisco SQT because they have track or baseball conflicts. All 24 teams will be dealing with this and we will take the best 20 players we have available and see how it goes!

There is a special liability form for the Cowboys event so please fill it out and get it back in as soon as possible along with the season tournament fees.

Jim

“20/20”

The 2017 Edition of the Lamar Viking 7 on 7 Team will have the opportunity to “turn the page” to a state best 20 straight years of qualifying for the State 7 on 7 Championship with all 20 qualifications occurring “on the road”. None of the players on this years team were born when the streak began in 1998. 

2017 LAMAR 7 ON 7 VARSITY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE 01-25-17


2017 MASTER Practice-Tournament Schedule Before End of School 02-10-17

2017 MASTER Practice-Tournament thru End of Season 02-18-17

VIKES FINISH SEASON 16-1

On Friday 7/8/16 the Vikings ran the table and won all three pool games by an impressive 20 point per game average margin of victory. The first game against RR Cedar Ridge was tight in the first half but the Vikings pulled away to win 42-21. In game two the Vikes shut out the El Paso Eastlake team 28-0. The final game was against a very talented Houston Richmond Foster team and again the Vikes won going away this time by a 40-22 margin.


On Saturday though the Vikes did not play as crisply as a team in the first game of the Championship Bracket and fell to a good College Station team 39-27. After a slow start the Vikes took the lead back 27-26 but could not close the deal and finished the tournament 3-1. The 2016 State Tournament was won by the Woodlands 32-26 over Dickinson.


The season record of 16-1 was the highest winning percentage in program history at 94%. The Vikes beat 9 of 10 state qualifiers they played and did not lose a regular season game. Congratulations to everyone involved in the program for a very successful season.


Many thanks to our team parents (led by Shannon and Lysandra), sponsors and the Lamar football staff for the consistent support. Big kudos to the assistant coaches (Elias, Steve, Lawrence, Harrell, Julian, Chris, Barry, Spencer, Nic and Darrian) for all you work this season!

POOL PAIRINGS FOR STATE TOURAMENT ANNOUNCED

The Vikes will open pool play on Field 4 at Veteran's Park in College Station next Friday July 8th at 1:00 pm. The schedule is:

1:00 pm LAMAR vs RR Vista Ridge
3:00 pm LAMAR  vs. El Paso Eastlake
5:00 pm LAMAR vs. Richmond


This is a very good pool and we will have to play at our best to advance to the Championship Bracket Play on Saturday.

A couple of interesting items to note-of the 13 state qualifying games we played this summer, 6 were against teams that eventually qualified for the State Tournament. We beat all 6 teams by an average margin (15 points) which is the same margin of victory in all 13 of our wins. That is a good sign that we "do not play up or down to our competition" but concentrate on playing to our ability. Over the last 4 years the average points per game by the eventual state champions was 41 ppg while allowing about 22 points per game. We are slightly under the 41 ppg offensively but right on the 22 ppg allowed as defensive  team. The message to our kids is that we need to continue "doing what we do" and good things could happen. There is a copy of the team itinerary attached under the PDF heading on the home page-follow along as we journey through our 19th consecutive state tournament!