Caleb Kimbro and his Hays teammates reeled off three lopsided wins in a row at the Alamo Heights 7-on-7 tournament to qualify for the State tournament in mid-July in College Station. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by JASON GORDON
When the Hays 7-on-7 team lost to the Alamo Heights junior varsity 25-24 during its first tournament game Saturday things looked bleak.
It turned out to be the wake-up call the Rebels needed.
Hays proceeded to roll past Class 5A schools Clark and Madison in pool play before knocking off host school Alamo Height’s varsity team 50-28 in the semifinals.
The top two teams qualify for state, so although the Rebs lost to San Antonio Johnson in the finals they have their ticket punched to the State 7-on-7 Tournament in College Station in mid-July.
“I was on the team that made state in 2009, so I definitely wanted to get back there my senior year,” said Hays receiver Michael Romero. “It means a lot to us.”
In the semifinals against Alamo Heights, Hays set the tone on defense when Nate Paez recorded a safety by stopping a Mules receiver behind the line of scrimmage on the very first play of the game to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead.
Hays continued to surge as Mason Cervenka, Taven Mayberry, Jaxson Schaubhut and Romero all caught touchdown passes from quarterback Caleb Kimbro and the Rebels led 30-12 at halftime.
The Rebels scored on their first seven possessions in the 50-28 win, as Cervenka, Romero and Schaubhut all added touchdown receptions from Kimbro in the second half.
Jared Rodriguez, Christian Rodriguez, Mark Oldham and Paez were standouts defensively against Heights.
“State is pretty difficult to make and we are excited to get there,” Kimbro said. “The hard work we put in during the offseason has everyone committed to winning which allowed us to achieve this goal.”
In Hays’ second pool play game against Clark, one of the tournament’s favorites, the Rebels rocked in a 46-24 victory in which Rob Shelton, Adam Castro, Schaubhut, Mayberry, Cervenka and Romero all caught touchdown passes from Kimbro.
Against Madison, Hays won 46-36 as Dalton Johnson returned an interception for a touchdown and Mayberry led the way offensively with three touchdown receptions.
JT Sivils and Travis Noey also had standout games defensively.
“It’s nice to qualify early because the pressure is off of us to qualify for state in our own tournament,” Cervenka said. “I’m really proud of how hard all of our players have worked. It’s really paying off this summer and will definitely pay off in the fall. We had a lot of players step up and make big plays this weekend.”
Hays will continue to play regular season games in the Tuesday night 7-on-7 league at Shelton Stadium.
The Rebels will host a state-qualifying tournament Saturday. Only teams that haven’t qualified for state can advance past pool play and into the semifinals. The tournament’s two finalists will qualify for state.
