By FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
Football is finally set to get underway this week.
Well, sort of.
Texas’ state 7 on 7 football tournament officially begins this Thursday in College Station and La Feria will be one of four Rio Grande Valley teams to take part in the action.
“We are really exited to be competing in this tournament,” said team quarterback Isaac Galpin. “For me, 7 on 7 is like a game of chess. It’s more of a mind game because you have to read the defense and the coverage. If you have a mismatch you have to think how you can beat them.”
While 7 on 7 teams have been playing for a few weeks now trying to qualifying for the tournament, La Feria is relishing the chance to compete against opponents they normally would not get to face.
La Feria qualified for this year’s state tournament in McAllen on June 20. In pool play, they beat Rockport-Fulton and Rio Hondo, before advancing out of the pool and earning a coveted spot at state after defeating La Villa in a semifinal game.
La Feria was drawn into Pool O with Brownwood, Carthage and Taylor in Division II play.
Along with La Feria, Hidalgo, Mission Veterans, and Edcouch-Elsa will be the other Valley teams making the trip to College Station for the two-day tournament.
Edcouch-Elsa and Mission Veterans will be competing in Division I.
La Feria begins pool play Thursday against Taylor at 2 p.m., Brownwood at 4 p.m. and Carthage at 6 p.m. with all games being played on Field 10.
The top two teams from each pool advance to the championship bracket on Friday morning while the bottom two play in the conciliation bracket, also on Friday.
For those unfamiliar with the 7 on 7 football, each team is allowed to take up to 20 players to the tournament, however La Feria will only take 17.
Teams will play on a 45-yard long, 160-foot wide field and offensive plays must be all passes and no kicking and punting is allowed. Defensively, receivers/ball carriers are legally down when touched with one or both hands by a defender.