Young stars shine in Navasota

This past weekend, Navasota played host to the final 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament in the small school division. Several private schools and teams that are class 3A and under spent the summer competing for 32 spots at the upcoming state tournament in College Station.

Next Thursday and Friday, those 32 teams will converge upon the Texas A&M campus in hopes of taking home the 7-on-7 state championship. By winning their respective pools this past Saturday, two teams filled the final spots.

Houston Second Baptist, led by bluechip 2010 quarterback Connor Wood, defeated Mexia, Somerville and Van Vleck to clinch the berth from their pool. They were most tested by Somerville, actually trailing by one at halftime. Do-everything athlete Jeffrey Foster did his best to try and pull the upset, but it was not to be.

In the other pool, it was a team from Galveston County that went 3-0 after making the long trek. Hitchcock, though just a 2A school, features several Division I prospects.

The Bulldogs' defense is led by linebacker Michael Sam, a player on the radar of several programs. Perhaps their most impressive defender, though, is a 2010 prospect. Darius Dotson plays inside linebacker and running back, but is a natural on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, Jordan Turner and 2010 prospect Devante Provost combine to form a very good wide receiver duo.

The Bulldogs were not truly tested, easily rolling past New Waverly, La Grange and Yoakum. New Waverly did feature two big offense targets in twins Tyren Watts and Kyren Watts. The two 2010 prospects are a very good tailback-receiver combo. However, they were not enough to match the firepower of the Bulldogs.

Originally scheduled to take part in the tournament was host Navasota, along with Giddings, Normangee and Rockdale. However, all four teams had already qualified for the state tournament and played a round-robin tune up at nearby Brule Field.

***For a photo gallery of Saturday's action, CLICK HERE