Burnet hosting 7-on-7 state-qualifying tournament with old and unfamiliar faces

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

BURNET — After three years of being on the list, Burnet High School will host a 7-on-7 state-qualifying tournament June 14.

Sixteen teams from across the state will converge on Burnet’s practice fields, 1000 The Green Mile, at 9 a.m. with the aim of qualifying for the state tournament in July.

Burnet will play in pool A against Bandera, Christoval and LaGrange.

Marble Falls is in pool C along with Cameron Yoe, Fredericksburg and Lampasas.

Pool B has Comanche, Gonzales, Kountze and Taylor, while pool D includes Wimberley, Crane, Lago Vista and Marion.

Wimberley and Burnet already qualified for state, while Marble Falls, as a Class 5A squad, is ineligible to qualify since this is a Division II qualifier.

Andy McHazlett, who is serving as the co-administrator of the tournament with Billy Cook, said the Burnet coaches invited different teams from across the state on purpose.

“We’ll all get a chance to play against people we’ve never seen,” he said. “We’ve sent out emails, and we posted it to different websites.”

Kountze, a Southeast Texas school, will travel the farthest at about five hours, while Marble Falls and Lampasas have the shortest distances.

“I think it’s good to see different (teams) you don’t see all the time,” McHazlett said. “It makes it more exciting.”

McHazlett, who serves as the Bulldogs football team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, noted all levels of football squads, from fifth grade to the NFL, play 7-on-7 now.

“Kids get a chance to throw and catch,” he said. “That’s what we like about it.”

The Bulldogs are calling their passing plays out of the playbook during 7-on-7, he said, which just means more opportunities for the quarterbacks to build rapport with their receivers.

Burnet is looking for a new starting quarterback. The battle is between senior Taylor Barksdale and junior Austin Moore.

“It’s a great chance to evaluate,” the coordinator said.

And it’s not all about making the correct read and the proper throws. Equally important to him, he said, is how the quarterbacks react to third and fourth downs, how they talk to their teammates and if they’re able to look at the spacing and help a receiver get lined up correctly.

“We’re taking mental notes,” McHazlett said. “Without 7-on-7, we’d be in a situation where we’d have to wait until two-a-days to evaluate. We’re looking for who’s going to be the guy.”

He said both quarterbacks have played well in leading the Bulldogs to a 20-3 record dating to the beginning of May.

They’ve played so well, he said, that there has not been any separation between the two.

“We’ll probably go into the scrimmages and maybe the first game or two until we decide on somebody,” he said.

jfierro@thepicayune.com