Rebel receiver Jaxson Schaubhut tries to find open space during the Hays State Qualifying 7-on-7 Tournament Saturday at Shelton Stadium. The Rebs went 2-1 but couldn’t advance to the semifinals since they already qualified for the state tournament. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
by JASON GORDON
The Rebels got off to their typical slow start in its own 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament at Hays High Saturday but rallied to knock off two 2010 playoff teams in pool play.
After a 20-14 loss to Temple to start the day, Hays thumped Boerne Champion 31-13 before winning a close 33-26 contest against Class 5A Georgetown.
The Rebels knew going in they couldn’t advance to the tournament semifinals since they already qualified for the State 7-on-7 Tournament the previous weekend at Alamo Heights.
Hays also was playing without Michael Romero, a first-team All-District selection last season.
In the Alamo Heights tournament, Hays also lost its opening game of pool play before rallying to win three straight games to qualify for state.
“I don’t know what it is but we always seem to start out slow,” said Hays receiver Mason Cervenka. “That first loss made us mad so we did what we needed to do. We played well the next two games to get ready for the state tournament.”
Rebel quarterback Caleb Kimbro agreed the Rebels needed to continue to make progress with the state tournament in College Station July 15-16 on the horizon.
“We were playing for pride and to get better for state,” Kimbro said. “It took awhile to adjust to Romero not being there because he’s such a playmaker, but guys like Adam Castro really stepped in and did a great job.”
Hays’ defense played its best tournament of the season, which is another great sign for the Rebels heading toward state.
“Our defense kept us in every single game,” Kimbro said. “They played great all tournament long.”
Dalton Johnson returned an interception for a touchdown against Georgetown. In addition, Jared Rodriguez, Christian Rodriguez, Shawn Leerson and Jaxson Schaubhut all had interceptions in the tournament for the Rebs.
“Our defense played outstanding today,” Cervenka said. “Our offense just didn’t show up in the first game, but we finally got it going.”
Against Champion, Kimbro threw two first half touchdown passes to Cervenka and another to Castro to guide the Rebels to a 19-7 halftime lead.
In the second half, Kimbro hit Rob Shelton on a 10-yard pattern to the left side of the end zone for a score, and after Jared Rodriguez tipped a pass defensively to help the Rebels finish off a goal line stand, Kimbro found Cervenka with a 30-yard strike down the right sideline to round out the scoring for the Rebs.
Against Georgetown, Kimbro again found Cervenka with two touchdown passes and hit Castro and Taven Mayberry with a scoring pass each in the victory.
“We want to be playing our very best at state,” Cervenka said. “We know we’re going to run into some very tough competition there, so everything we do from here on out is to get ready for the state tournament.”
