Roughers have high moments in second 7-on-7 tourney

Jul. 18—Muskogee coach Travis Hill knew the second of two 7-on-7 football tournaments this fall would be a more formidable test.

After going 10-0 in the Stateline Shootout at Siloam Springs in June, the Roughers weren't able to grab another championship in the Southwest Elite Tournament held in Fayetteville, Ark., going 7-3 on Thursday and Friday,

Muskogee opened with a 23-22 win over Owasso, then beat Heritage Hall 19-17, Harding (Ark.) Academy 39-7, Green Forest (Ark.) 42-6, Fayetteville 34-20 and then lost to Lincoln Christian 34-29.

In bracket play, they again beat Fayetteville 23-21 and Owasso 25-18, but in between lost to Stillwater 18-6 in a game that sent them to the consolation bracket. After its repeat win over Owasso, Muskogee lost to Glendale (Mo.) 25-16.

They wound up seventh of 21 entries.

At Siloam Springs, the Roughers beat Catoosa, Kansas, and Collinsville twice as well as three Arkansas schools, one being a recent Muskogee foe in Bentonville West, twice.

There's some names with notable fall success in the group — Owasso in 6AI, Collinsville in 5A and Heritage Hall and Lincoln Christian in 3A and Fayetteville and Bentonville in Arkansas 7A. Heritage Hall came in to this event as the defending champion. Harding Academy in Arkansas is a three-time 3A state champion which is moving up to 4A this year.

But as he did after the title run last month, Roughers head coach Travis Hill kept things in perspective.

"Bottom line, no one is getting pumped up about going 17-3 in 7-on-7, but there's positives to take away from it," he said. "We competed hard. We had guys double-dipping (going both on offense and defense). It was a grind, 118 degrees on the turf on Thursday and a little higher on Friday, and I think we showed ourselves to be a little tired on Friday.

"We wanted to get tougher and better in this and we walked out better. We know we cover well and we throw the ball well, and those are assets you can carry into the season."

But what 7-on-7 doesn't do is add the factor of the actions in the trenches.

"That's exactly right, and I don't think it's a secret to anybody we haven't been as good as we want to be up front," Hill said. "But I will say in what we've seen in opportunities to evaluate them this summer, I think we're immensely improved in those areas and I'm looking forward to putting those together with our skill people."

With off-season work wrapping up and just a few weeks before the official start of preseason begins, Hill said if there's a major uncertainty about his squad, it's not on either offense or defense, but a particular aspect of special teams.

The punting is solid and will be quarterback-focused with sophomore Jamarian Ficklin and Koda Barnoski, who recently moved into the backup QB role after Jacob Jones transferred to Checotah. No clear-cut answer has arisen as a kicking specialist. Darian Armstrong, a senior, and Reese Summerhill, a sophomore, have been given looks. An addition from the soccer team is anticipated to join that mix in Marcos Yahulti, a senior.

Preseason football practice starts Aug. 8. Muskogee opens the season at Enid on Aug. 26