Texas Sports Center

By Chance Bailey and Michael Love of Texas Sports Center

On Monday, June 4, Lufkin, Diboll, Nacogdoches, and Jasper played in a four team tournament in Lufkin’s Abe Martin Stadium. Lufkin and Nacogdoches were the two teams that advanced in the tournament, qualifying for the state qualifier tournament that was played on Saturday, June 9th, 2012.

In the state qualifier, several teams from around East Texas competed in Diboll. Gilmer, San Augustine, Trinity, Huntington, Diboll, Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Crockett, Carthage, and Shelbyville were the teams that competed. Results from the tournament have not been released.

For those who don’t know what 7-on-7 is, it’s a football game played during the Summer with seven offensive players and seven defensive players. The offensive team has a center, a quarterback, and five receivers. On defense, it’s basically seven defenders in zone or man coverage with pass rushing prohibited.

The quarterback has four seconds to throw the ball or the play is blown dead by a referee. 7-on-7 gives high school players a chance to showcase their skills in the open field and keep their edge during the Summer.

It also is a non-contact game, with players in shorts and shirts. The ball carrier is down as soon as he touched by a member of the opposing team. This game is not mandatory, but it shows how committed certain players are on getting better and helping their teams win in the Fall.

Diboll Tournament Results are as follows:

Pool A

Diboll 39   - Huntington 13

Gilmer 35 - Trinity 20

Gilmer 27 - Diboll 13

Trinity 45 - Huntington 20

Diboll 26 - Trinity 13

Huntington 47 - Huntington 21

Pool B

Crockett 33 - Shelbyville 21

San Augustine 41 - Carthage 34

San Augustine 30 - Shelbyville 20

Carthage 47 - Crockett 6

San Augustine 46 - Crockett 14

Carthage 41 - Shelbyville 13

Semifinals

Diboll 34 defeats San Augustine 30 to advance to the state round.

Carthage 20 defeats Gilmer 0 to advance to the state round.

The East Team is being headed up by Vidor's Jeff Mathews who is excited about all of their outstanding season performers including Joe Persohn of Hardin-Jefferson, Corbin Carr of Nederland and Garrett Drake of Silsbee, as well as Kilgore College signee Karrion Morrisey, a 5 foot- 8 inch, 185 pound senior running back from Jasper who rushed for 2,029 yards in 11 games, averaging 185 yards per game and with zero fumbles in 257 carries.

Coach Mathews will be joined by two of his own assistant coaches from Vidor, Dwayne Doubois and Dickie Robinson. They will be joined by Dwight Bickham of LC-M, Hiawatha Hickman of Silsbee, Greg Neece of Kirbyville, Mike Arnaud of PN-G and Daryl Hobbs of Legacy, Texas.

The East Team roster includes:

• 1 Davonte McMillan of Memorial

• 2 Chris Bowser of Legacy

• 3 Patrick Beatty of Jasper

• 4 Ty Johnson of Orangefield

• 5 Karrion Morrisey of Jasper

• 6 Malachi Busby of Bridge City

• 7 Dean Seastrunk of Newton

• 8 Chase Romero of PN-G

• 9 Kip Rawls of Evadale

• 10 Darrian Turk of Silsbee

• 11 Joshua Pickett of Memorial

• 12 Jacobe Collier of Central

• 14 Brett Butler of Nederland

• 15 Kenneth Mayfield of Memorial

• 17 Derek Ledet of WO-S

• 20 Jimmy Wright of Vidor

• 21 David Bollinger of Vidor

• 22 Tim Simmons of Newton

• 23 Lynn Williams of Buna

• 26 David Smallwood of Vidor

• 27 Garrett Drake of Silsbee

• 33 William Tyler of Kirbyville

• 34 Dylan Nini of Sabine Pass

• 43 Britton Lindsey of WO-S

• 52 Joe Perhson of Hardin-Jefferson

• 53 Kanton Richard of Nederland

• 55 Tanner Mcinnis of Ham-Fanett

• 56 Caleb Ross of Buna

• 57 Farrin Lawence of LCM

• 58 Bret Treadway of Silsbee

• 64 Jonathan Ned of Memorial

• 70 Cameron Coulter of Bridge City

• 74 Jarvis Adams of Jasper

• 75 Ian Jenkins of WO-S

• 78 Sterling Deslatte of Orangefield

• 88 Jordan Harman of LC-M

• 98 Kyle Holmes of Central

• 99 Corbin Carr of Nederland

The West Team will be lead by Coldsprings Head Coach Bryan Barbay, the son of the late Newton Head Coach Curtis Barbay who coached in the first Southeast Texas Ford Dealers All-Star Classic in 2010. Barbay's cousin Kevin Barbay head coach of Warren, will be the offensive coordinator. The West will feature Ozen quarterback Trey Green, who signed with Prairie View, Terran Vaughn, who signed with Stephen F. Austin and Coldspring running back Sherman Gilbert, who rushed for 2,298 yards his senior season.

Coach Barbay will be joined by assistant coach Blake Morrison of Coldspring, Kevin Barbay of Warren, Darrell Barbay of Anahuac, Mike McEachern of Huffman, Mike Stewart of Lumberton, Ray Metoyer of Ozen and Brett McPhatter of East Chambers.

The West Team roster includes:

• 1 Sherman Gilbert of Coldspring

• 2 Joshua Stump of West Brook

• 3 Trey Green of Ozen

• 5 Javier Hernandez of Anahuac

• 6 Matias McCloskey of Huffman

• 7 Jordan Granato of Lumberton

• 8 Colton Monroe of Coldspring

• 9 Kale Rives of Hardin

• 10 Kirby Johnson of East Chambers

• 12 Chisholm Marberry of Hull Daisetta

• 13 Huestis McAnally of Splendora

• 14 Kade Hardy of Huffman

• 15 Tyrell Franks of Cleveland

• 16 Jalen Malone of West Brook

• 19 Duane Mena of Huffman

• 22 Oshea Kennebrew of Kelly

• 24 Jake Vaught of Liberty

• 25 Nick Barber of Kelly

• 26 Tyler Newcomb of Barbers Hill

• 31 Marcus Gray of West Brook

• 32 Ryan Reuter of Barbers Hill

• 33 Lajade Farr of Ozen

• 35 Gerrod Hilliard of Livingston

• 43 Tyrell Collins of Ozen

• 44 Kedrick Harrison of Coldspring

• 45 Tyler Caruthers of West Hardin

• 48 Taylor Reddell of East Chambers

• 50 Hosea Bottley of Kountze

• 51 Chance Andries of Coldspring

• 52 Thalan Payne of Ozen

• 55 Braden Matthews of Barbers Hill

• 62 Ty Murray of Warren

• 64 Jared Castle of West Brook

• 65 Terran Vaughn of Ozen

• 67 Cole Galloway of Livingston

• 76 Ryan Melton of Liberty

• 78 Jessie Blackburn of Crosby

• 80 Sam Hubert of Chester