Marble Falls finishes Highland Lakes 7-on-7 league with three wins
Llano High School’s Michael Lockhart tucks the ball as a swarm of Mustangs run toward him to tag him down.
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School 7-on-7 team finished the final night of the Highland Lakes League by winning all three of its games June 15.
The Mustangs (8-0-1) beat Llano 26-12, Lago Vista 27-7 and Lampasas 27-13.
What pleased head coach Matt Green the most was that about the same six athletes played all three weeks. The rest showed up once or twice.
“I thought (my players) did well,” Green said. “I saw improvements. Ultimately, we have different kids in different spots. It makes us better for the upcoming season.”
Running back Daven Manning remained a matchup issue for defenses. He caught several long touchdown passes by going down the middle of the field, turned short passes into big gains, and used his frame to shield the body from defenders when they were both going after passes.
Receiver Jacob Metcalf’s speed and precise route running allowed the quarterbacks to throw to a spot. Metcalf slid, bent down and jumped high for passes. He caught a touchdown against Lampasas that looked to be overthrown and too far to the left. Instead, Metcalf ran toward the ball, jumped and caught the ball with one hand for the score.
Chris Despain, at 6 feet 3 inches, lined up at the opposite receiver position and was a big target. Armand Guirre was the other running back who gave the Mustangs another option. And when he wasn’t the quarterback, Cool lined up at receiver and caught several long passes.
Perhaps the biggest contributor to both sides of the ball was Austin Pegues. He caught a a 22-yard pass and had three interceptions. Two of those came in back-to-back Lago Vista offensive possessions. Juan Rodriguez also had an interception.
In Week 1, the Marble Falls offense looked unstoppable. In Week 2, the Mustangs defense shined. But in the final week, both sides of the ball looked impressive. Green said that’s because Marble Falls has faced several Class 6A 7-on-7 teams during the past three state-qualifying tournaments. During the River City state-qualifying tournament, the Mustangs beat Brandeis 37-34 but lost to San Antonio MacArthur 39-34 and Somerset 35-33. Somerset is coached by Sonny Detmer, and his quarterback is his grandson Koy Detmer Jr. Sonny Detmer is the father of Koy Detmer, who played quarterback for Colorado and then spent 10 years in the NFL, and Ty Detmer, the 1990 Heisman-winning quarterback at Brigham Young.
“Our kids have been competing,” Green said. “That’s made our kids better.”
Marble Falls will play another night of 7-on-7 against Burnet and Fredericksburg starting at 5:30 p.m. June 25 at Mustang Stadium, 2101 Mustang Drive.
jfierro@thepicayune.com