KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE—With 60 odd days left before the start of the 2018 high school football season, us football junkies get our football fix through the 7 on 7 summer leagues. While 7on7 is special in its own ways, it provides a small glimpse of what is to come in the fall.
Four teams from the RGV will hit the road for the state 7on7 tournament in College Station. Division II and III kick off their play Thursday and will continue into Friday. Division I schools will get going on Friday and roll into Saturday.
All games will be played at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
The Bearkats are in uncharted waters, the 2018 squad broke new ground by becoming the first team to qualify for the state tournament.
Raymondville went 2-1 in pool play at the McAllen qualifier, and finished as the No. 2 seed in their group, and beat Rio Hondo 20-19 to reach the state tournament.
The Kats will be in Pool B, and will meet Burnet, Palestine and Sunnyvale. Given this is the first trip for the Kats, they’re not alone. Sunnyvale is also a first timer in College Station. This will be Palestine’s third trip and also happens to be their third straight.
Burnet meanwhile is the most experienced team out of the pool. Since 2009, Burnet has reached the state tournament nine times from 2009-2018. The 2017 summer was the only summer they missed out.
Speaking of teams with experience, Graham has reached state 10 times, and is back for a ninth straight year. Graham is also the defending DII champs, last summer they beat Abilene Wylie 27-20.
In the last ten years, Graham has made the finals four times and have won three times along with back to back titles in 2013-2014.
So while the road will be tough for the Kats, the road to the winners bracket will start by beating Burnet in their pool.
As the old saying goes, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.”
It won’t take long to find out what the Kats have up their sleeve in Aggieland.