It was a successful afternoon for Texas Panhandle teams competing in 7-on-7 state qualifiers across West Texas on Saturday.
Amarillo High, Dumas, Childress, and Stratford all punched tickets to compete at the Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament set for June 23-25 at Veterans Park in College Station.
The Sandies are heading to College State for the first time in program history. Competing at the Division I level at a state qualifier at PlainsCapital Park at Lowrey Field in Lubbock, AHS went unbeaten. During pool play, Amarillo High beat Abilene Cooper 27-12, then Lubbock Coronado’s JV 36-12, and Lubbock Estacado 20-18.
In a qualifying semifinal, the Sandies held off future District 2-5A Division I opponent, Abilene High, 13-6, to advance. Lubbock Coronado qualified in the other semifinal.
Dumas, which plays at the Division II level, is headed back to the state tournament for the second year in a row and the third time since 2019. Playing in a qualifier in Graham, Dumas went 3-0 in pool play defeating Midland Christian 21-20, then Decatur 19-6, and Peaster 21-6.
In the semifinals Dumas punched its ticket to state by downing Wichita Falls High 18-7. Graham advanced on the other side of the bracket.
Childress hosted a Division III state qualifier on the toasty turf of Fair Park Stadium on Saturday morning.
For a second straight year both the Bobcats and Stratford Elks qualified out of the tourney to advance to state.
Childress went unbeaten on its side of the pool taking down Electra 32-6, followed by a victory over Shamrock 14-7, and then Wellington 13-7.
In the semifinals the Bobcats beat Gruver 32-21 to finish off the day 4-0 and make it back to College Station. This will be the Bobcats sixth appearance at the state tournament overall.
Stratford also went undefeated in pool play. The Elks blanked Quanah 27-0, handled Panhandle 21-6, and held off rival Gruver 21-0.
In the semifinal Stratford beat Wellington 21-13 to advance back to state for a second straight year.
Below are the scores from the Childress state qualifier.
Childress 7-on-7 Division III state qualifier
Note: The two winners from Saturday’s semifinal games advance to the 7-on-7 State Football Tournament on June 23-25 in College Station.
Semifinal state qualifying scores
Childress 32, Gruver 21
Stratford 21, Wellington 13
Pool play scores
Pool A
Round 1
Childress 32, Electra 6
Wellington 19, Shamrock 14
Round 2
Childress 14, Shamrock 7
Wellington 24, Electra 6
Round 3
Childress 13, Wellington 7
Shamrock 13, Electra 0
Pool B
Round 1
Gruver 22, Panhandle 6
Stratford 27, Quanah 0
Round 2
Gruver 26, Quanah 8
Stratford 21, Panhandle 6
Round 3
Stratford 21, Gruver 20
Panhandle 28, Quanah 18