DUMAS – As May comes to a close and school is officially out, that doesn’t slow down sports in the Amarillo-area as the Texas High School 7-on-7 football tournaments across the state are heating up by the week.
For a fourth straight year Saturday, Dumas hosted the only state qualifying 7-on-7 tournament in the Texas Panhandle with eight teams vying for one spot to College Station at the end of June.
“We’re thankful to host this qualifier,” Dumas head football coach Aaron Dunnam said. “We travel all over. We’ve been in the Metroplex the past two weekends staying in hotels, so it’s nice to be hosting again and the guys to be home. I think the 7-on-7 committee sees our commitment and allows us to host a qualifier. I like it because not all these teams play in a qualifier, but they’ll play in this one.”
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With the Demons already punching a ticket to the Division II state tournament for the sixth straight year last week by beating Stephenville 25-20 at Mineral Wells, Dumas could play in its own qualifier, but it left the door open for another team to punch a ticket to College Station.
Regardless, Dumas took care of business behind junior-to-be quarterback Colton Mills as the Demons dominated the field going 3-0 on Saturday.
Dumas opened play beating up Hereford 33-12 scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half. The Demons then took down Randall 34-18 and closed out a perfect afternoon beating Lamesa 27-21.
“We’re happy to be going back to College Station,” Dunnam said. “We’ve only qualified here at our own tournament one time which is funny, but I just think it shows how invested this program is. We know it’s not real football, but we love to compete and that’s how we look at it. I think the team learn a lot in the summer. Coaches can’t coach which forces the players to make the adjustments. We have seen a ton of growth within the team to check the down and distances, the knowledge of football and what coverages they need to be in.”
With Dumas not eligible to win Saturday, Lamesa was able to stun the field and qualify for the 7-on-7 state football tournament for the first time in program history.
The Golden Tornadoes, who didn’t win a game in this qualifier last year, played excellent Saturday behind incoming sophomore quarterback, Daniel Ramos. Lamesa opened Saturday defeating Randall 27-20 and edging Hereford 24-22. Lamesa’s loss to Dumas didn’t hurt them as the Golden Tornadoes were able to play in the championship game taking down Shallowater 20-6.
The State 7-on-7 football championships are set for June 27-29 at Veterans Park in College Station.
Saturday’s qualifying scores
at Demons Stadium, Dumas
Shallowater 27, Levelland 7
Dumas 33, Hereford 12
Shallowater 26, Perryton 7
Dumas 34, Randall 18
Perryton 26, Levelland 20
Dumas 27, Lamesa 21
Perryton 27, Lubbock Christian 14
Lamesa 27, Randall 20
Lubbock Christian 28, Levelland 14
Lamesa 24, Hereford 22
Lubbock Christian 20, Shallowater 14
Randall 27, Hereford 24
Championship game
Lamesa 20, Shallowater 6