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JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

ROUND ROCK — The Marble Falls High School varsity 7-on-7 football team went 1-2 at the Round Rock State Qualifying Tournament on May 24.

The Mustangs defeated Austin High but lost to Round Rock McNeil and Round Rock Westwood.

Coordinator Josh Wooten said of the 18 Mustangs, nine were rising sophomores.

“I think we did really well,” he said. “At first, a lot of them had a little deer-in-the-headlights look.”

But that didn’t last long, he said, noting Marble Falls had a lead against Westwood at halftime before the Warriors responded to win the pool.

Rising junior quarterback Brennen Wooten has scaled down the passing plays, the coordinator said, because not all of his receivers know their routes. So he mixed up 10 different plays with the aim of adding more throughout the next four weeks. The Mustangs will play in the Austin High weekly league that starts in two weeks. They’ll play three games per week.

“Four or five upperclassmen have jobs,” Josh Wooten said. “(Brennan Wooten is) trying to get everybody involved. We did OK with what we had.”

Many of the receivers, who included Jacob Metcalf, Eric Cauble, Aaron Wooten, Hanner Shipley, Peyton Emory and Davin Manning, had been practicing routes with the quarterback for the past several weeks.

“I think you could tell the boys had been throwing together,” Josh Wooten said.

Shipley was used in short-yardage situations, where his wide frame and 6-foot-3 frame made it difficult to defend him, Wooten said. He finished with catching at least four touchdowns.

“He’s a handful to cover,” the coordinator said. “A jump ball to Hanner is not going to turn out well for the defense.”

Manning played on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Marble Falls relied on underclassmen to defend.

Playing three games in a morning tests players physically because there’s little time to rest between halves. Josh Wooten said he could tell the Mustangs struggled with conditioning toward the end, while most of their opponents had gone through three weeks of spring football drills.

Also in attendance was new Marble Falls head coach Matt Green.

“I know he was discussing things with other people,” Wooten said. “He was very excited. He liked a lot about what he saw.”

To Josh Wooten, the biggest benefit of 7-on-7 is developing more chemistry between the players and hoping they learn from errors during these contests.

“I love the whole experimental-type attitude,” he said.

Marble Falls will try to qualify for the state tournament again when it participates in the Cavalier State Qualifying Tournament on May 31 at Lake Travis Middle School practice fields, 3328 RR 620 South in Lakeway. The Mustangs are in pool C with Austin High, Belton and Kyle Lehman.

jfierro@thepicayune.com