DALTON, Ga. - Through two days of competing with temperatures in the mid-90s, waiting out rain delays, celebrating the highs and overcoming obstacles, area high school coaches involved in the Southeastern 7-on-7 Championship learned quite a bit about their football teams.
While Alabama's Opelika took home the team title with a dramatic 29-28 overtime win over previously undefeated Spartanburg, S.C., the eight Chattanooga-area teams involved in the 11-state event were experiencing the ups and downs associated with the non-contact, passing-only competition.
Dalton had the best finish among area teams after a pair of wins to open the championship round Sunday, ultimately finishing sixth. Christian Heritage, another Dalton school, went 1-2 in the championship round and was eliminated by Opelika, which had to win seven games Sunday after losing its second game of the day.
After strong showings in pool play Saturday, Baylor and Northwest Whitfield each went 0-2 Sunday. In the consolation bracket, won by North Florida Christian, Southeast Whitfield went 2-2, Ringgold 1-2 and McCallie and Coahulla Creek 0-2.
"We started off hot and lost the next two," Dalton coach Matt Land said. "We had a couple of rain delays and we didn't respond very well afterward, but other teams did.
"On the positive side, anytime you can get into the final six after seeing some of the elite talent here, you have to feel good about it. We played three state champions and a runner-up, and facing that kind of talent gave our coaches an outstanding opportunity to evaluate."
Most area schools will now turn to more team-oriented activities. The Catamounts, for example, will next attend a team camp at the University of West Georgia; they'll use information gathered the past two days to prepare.
"We learned a lot about our football team, first of all that these kids love to compete, no matter who we played," Land said. "This kind of ends the 7-on-7 portion of the summer for us, so now we're going to focus on really what we are, which is a downhill running team that will use that to set up our passing game.
"Overall, it was a very, very positive experience, and we love the direction we're headed."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.