Are you ready for some (7v7) football?

Tomé--It wasn’t exactly “Friday Night Lights,” the book and television show about Texas high school football; however, there was a solid crowd of fans on hand, football’s zinging through the air, coaches shouting instructions and it was a Friday.

This was all happening in June, early in the morning, with no stadium lights necessary. It was most certainly football, but minus helmets and pads crashing.

Last Friday, Valencia High School hosted a 7 on 7 football tournament, also known as 7v7.

“We’ve never done anything like this at Valencia,” said Jaguars head coach LeDarrius Cage. “I figured we had the space so why not bring it here?”

In addition to VHS, seven other schools sent teams — Los Lunas, Cleveland, Rio Grande, Pojoaque, Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius and Grants.

Because the fields are smaller than in traditional 11 on 11 football, two games were played at the same time on the main Valencia stadium turf, while contests were running simultaneously on the nearby VHS soccer fields.

That eliminated down-time, keeping teams quickly moving from one game to another.

The 7 on 7 game is often compared to sandlot football or playing in a buddy’s backyard, without tackling or linemen.

“It’s kind of just having fun with your friends,” is how VHS quarterback Aiden Harrington describes it.

Rules can vary, but in this tournament, only passing was allowed, with no running attack.

“Without the (offensive) line, you can really get connected (to receivers) and get the chemistry going, and then when you add the line it just flows together,” Harrington said.

Los Lunas entered a junior varsity team, with Tigers’ varsity head coach Greg Henington overseeing the action.

“It just has different phases,” Henington said about training that rarely takes a break. “This (tournament) is a good, fun phase. We get some competition after working for months in the weight room.”

In addition to the “fun,” coaches look to fine-tune the passing game, on both sides of the ball.

“There’s a ton to learn,” Henington said. “Quarterback timing, rhythm, base coverages, route combos.”

The kids like the “flashy” part of 7 on 7 and not “the grimy stuff on the ground,” said Cage, who echoed much of what Henington said.

“It also helps our receivers with their route running, helps our quarterback with his timing, understanding who to read, how to read.

“The same thing with the secondary — route combos and how to defend certain things that they haven’t seen.”

Besides, Cage says coaches can pick up good concepts that their counterparts are using.

Belen has not played in a 7 on 7 tournament yet this summer, but Eagles head coach Kevin Peña wrote in a text message he hopes to enter a few events soon.

Henington doesn’t send the Tigers to many 7 on 7 competitions, wary of players picking up “very subtle bad habits that can hurt you,” such as linebackers dropping into pass coverage instead of reading a running play first.

“For us, it’s the deal of finding the balance between too much and not enough. You don’t want to overdo it,” Henington feels. “You want to leave the kids a little hungry going into the season.”

That is even more important when taking into consideration new rules implemented by the New Mexico Activities Association, which allows a window in July for teams to workout in pads before official practice starts on Aug. 5.

While the skill players were facing off in games at VHS, offensive and defensive linemen also had a chance to compete. The “linemen challenge” offered contests in weightlifting, tug-of-war and sled pushing.

To top off the day, the weather was a pleasant surprise. Clouds kept temperatures comfortable, adding to what Jaguars’ quarterback Harrington called, “A great day. It’s just amazing.”