DALTON, Ga. - Northwest Whitfield came up one play short in its bid to win the Southeastern 7-on-7 Championship high school football event Saturday at Lakeshore Park in Dalton. That, however, didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm about what's been accomplished and what lies ahead for the Bruins.
"I saw exactly what I knew I would see today, that we would compete until the end," Northwest coach Josh Robinson said following a 22-12 loss to Westside, S.C., in the championship game. "An argument can be made that more than half the teams in the tournament were superior to us athletically, but we still came out and played with them on offense and defense."
Northwest went 9-1 in the tournament, and after winning its pool in dominating fashion Friday opened Saturday with a 31-6 win over Valdosta in the championship quarterfinals before downing Brentwood Academy 31-20 in the semis. Westside, which was also a pool winner, narrowly made the finals with a 16-15 win over Illinois Sacred Heart.
The games were 20 minutes long with a running clock until the final minute.
Westside scored two touchdowns on its first three plays in the title game, while the Bruins had to convert two fourth downs to answer and forge a 12-12 tie. The Rams, though, rode the hot left arm of quarterback Jackson Williamson down the field and scored on a 17-yard pass to Hunter Marchbanks to take the lead. They then made the crucial two-point conversion to make it an eight-point game with 5:46 to play.
The Bruins converted another fourth down to reach the 17, but four consecutive Luke Shiflett passes were defended well and the Rams took over on downs. Westside ran out the final minute to seal the title.
"Westside did a great job," Robinson said. "We had a breakdown on one touchdown where they ran a kid down the sideline just as the ball was snapped and we weren't ready. Those are things we can fix.
"Our offense is going to get all the accolades, but we made it as far as we did because our defense played far superior than what we've ever played in the Southeastern 7-on-7 tournament. We had a great weekend, but we just came up short."
Northwest receiver Jay Jones, who was among the weekend's standouts, believes the second-place finish will motivate him and his teammates even more as the start of training camp nears.
"We learned we are a real scrappy bunch that usually gets the job done, even though we came up a bit short today," Jones said. "It's going to put a chip on our shoulder for sure. Every 7-on-7 tournament we've been in we've gotten to the championship, but we've been runner-up. We want to learn how to finish now."
Dalton went 2-2 Saturday, including a win over Cartersville that put the Purple Hurricanes out of the tournament. However, an opening loss to Maplesville, Ala., relegated the Catamounts to trying to earn fifth place. That didn't happen after a narrow loss to Valdosta.
Southeast Whitfield, which was a replacement team in the championship round, lost its first two games Saturday. North Murray, which did not make the title field, turned things around Saturday to win the consolation bracket, with quarterback Blake Davis earning MVP honors.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22
