Northwest Whitfield wins prestigious Southeastern 7-on-7 pool; Dalton also advances

Dalton quarterback J.P. Tighe passes the ball during their game against Ryle High School at the Southeastern 7 on 7 Championships on Friday, July 15, 2016, in Dalton, Ga.
Dalton quarterback J.P. Tighe passes the ball during their game against Ryle High School at the Southeastern 7 on 7 Championships on Friday, July 15, 2016, in Dalton, Ga.

Josh Robinson laid it on the line Friday morning before his Northwest Whitfield football team took the field in the prestigious Southeastern 7-on-7 Championship in Dalton.

Even though the no-contact competition is hardly real football, Robinson felt his group of skill players was ready to compete for the title against some of the more athletic teams in the country.

"We want to win this thing," the sixth-year coach said after a 27-2 defeat of Southeast Whitfield in the Lakeshore Park pool of teams. "This is our fifth (7-on-7 tournament) this summer, and at this point we want to win it. We've told them all year that this tournament was when we wanted to put it all together and try to win this thing."

The Bruins, Dalton's Catamounts and Southeast Whitfield reached today's championship round in a field that includes elite programs from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and as far away as Illinois. Seven of the 24 were from the Chattanooga area.

Northwest, in fact, scored the most points, 234, in finishing Friday with a 7-0 record.

Behind the accurate passing of junior quarterback Luke Shiflett and the playmaking of receivers Jay Jones and Will Blanchard, the Bruins dominated throughout the day. They defeated their pool's second-place team, Sacred Heart from Illinois, 36-6.

"Coming into today, Luke's thrown six interceptions in over 35 7-on-7 games," Robinson said of his quarterback, who passed for 19 touchdowns and had just one interception a year ago leading the Bruins to the Georgia Class AAAA playoffs. "We need him to be in the 25 to 30 range this year, and that's a good number considering how much we are going to throw it."

Dalton overcame an 0-2 start to make the championship round in a tough pool at Dalton High School with a 4-3 record. The Catamounts, after losing to North Florida Christian and Ryle, Ky., won their next three games, including a 24-16 thriller against powerhouse Georgia school Valdosta.

Their title hopes dimmed with a two-point loss to eventual pool winner Westside, S.C., but a 24-15 win over Tennessee's Brentwood Academy clinched the berth in their final game.

"You ask yourself what does this say about your team, and the reality is that it's seven games today and that's all it is, so it's all about what we can learn today," Dalton coach Matt Land said after the Valdosta contest. "After those first two games we talked about what we were doing wrong and we corrected those, so I'm excited that it shows these guys are coachable."

In the North Murray High School pool, the hosts finished 2-5 in a field dominated by defending Georgia Class AAA champion Cartersville (7-0) and its elite quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. Also at North Murray, Cleveland finished 1-6 and Coahulla Creek was 0-7.

At Lakeshore Park, Southeast Whitfield finished with a 2-4-1 record to earn the fifth and final seed, while Murray County, after a quick start, ended at 2-5, though coach Chad Brewer said his team is getting what it came for.

"We come out here on these 7-on-7 things and we just run our stuff because we want to get better with what we do on Friday night," he said. "We value this, but we don't emphasize it more than we do trying to beat Gordon Central in week one."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22

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