Grovetown and Hephzibah seized the opportunity to play in a special event

Grovetown and Hephzibah's football teams took advantage of a special opportunity to compete last Friday and Saturday in the Cam Newton Foundation 7v7 Tournament in Savannah, Georgia. The tournament featured 24 teams playing as many as ten 20 minute games, including two sessions of pool play Friday at the Jennifer Ross Soccer Complex before the championship round moved to the 5,000 seat Memorial Stadium Saturday. Neither Grovetown nor Hephzibah qualified for the championship round, meaning they missed the chance to finish as one of the tournament's top three teams, which were slated to receive monetary donations from Newton's foundation as their reward.

But the reward for our local players was the experience of competing in such a well organized event against many teams they would never otherwise get a chance to encounter, all under the umbrella and in the presence of Newton, the highly revered All-Pro Carolina Panther quarterback. Each of the 20 players on every team was supplied with two game shirts, a pair of game shorts and a meal between sessions. The artificial playing surface was immaculate, tents with refreshments were set up near each of the six 50 yard fields and Newton's father Cecil - who played college football at nearby Savannah State - served as the animated DJ, spinning tunes, updating scores and cracking jokes during the action.

Highlights from Friday Morning's Pool Play Session

Playing in their first game at 10:00 A.M. on opposite sides of the same 100 yard field, both the Rebels and the Warriors started with a bang. Hephzibah's junior quarterback Marshall Chambers connected with junior Erick Harris for a 38 yard strike down the middle of the field that put the offense in scoring position at the 2 yard line on the first play from scrimmage against Windsor Forest. On the other end, on Grovetown's first offensive snap against Bethesda Academy, senior quarterback Kori Bryant threw a 40 yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Germain.

Grovetown maintained the positive momentum and earned a 20-2 win in their first outing.

But Hephzibah would have no such luck, as it dropped its first contest 30-0.

The Rebels only had 30 minutes to recoup before game 2 against May River, but that was enough time for head coach William Harrell, last season's Coach of the Year in Hephzibah's class 2A region, to settle down his troops, reminding them that what was most important was to move forward.

Coach William Harrell talks to his players before game 2

And the Rebels did just that. After falling behind May River 14-6, Chambers engineered a game tying scoring drive just in time to beat the expiring 20 minute game clock with a touchdown toss to Nigel Davis, who made an athletic grab high in the air, and another scoring pass to Jaiden Wofford, who went even higher to grab the two point conversion on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone.

The game tying connection between Chambers and Wofford showed one of the several distinctions between 7 on 7 and "real football" because the 2 point conversion attempt began at the 10 yard line. PATs from the 3 yard line are worth 1 point, and the game involves no kicking, no punting and no fourth downs.

Hephzibah QB Chambers tosses to a teammate between games

Hephzibah's posive momentum from the end of game 2 extended into the beginning of game 3 against Beach, of Savannah. The Rebel defense turned Beach over on downs on the first series, which rewarded Hephzibah 2 points on the scoreboard, another break from traditional football. Then, facing third down on the next series, Chambers hit Chris Clark near the right edge of the end zone to give the Rebels an early 8-0 lead.

But Beach rallied to take a 19-18 decision in Hephzibah's final game of the morning session.

After Grovetown followed its game 1 win over Bethesda with a game 2 loss to Woodward Academy, the tournament's eventual champion, the Warriors came out red hot against New Hampstead in game 3. Bryant, who earned second team all region honors last season, completed his first six passes to launch Grovetown to an early 16-0 lead. 

During the stretch, Kirk Smith, who also earned second team all region honors last season, made a pair of impressive catches on back-to-back plays, one for a touchdown inches before the ball hit the ground out of bounds in the back of the end zone after being bobbled by a teammate. The other came in the corner of the end zone when Smith used his size to shield the defender from the ball. Smith also contributed 3 more points to Grovetown's eventual 19-14 win when he intercepted a pass in the middle of the field in yet another example of the special scoring system in 7 on 7 football.

Seizing the Opportunity

In between Grovetown's second and third game, I asked coach Damien Postell how he was able to include his team in such a special event.

"We got an email from coach (Robert) Zoller from Islands High School," explained Postell, last season's Coach of the Year in class 6A, region 2. "He said they needed four more teams, so we answered the call."

Both Postell and Harrell have laid out an extensive off season schedule for their rapidly improving programs. I bet the players who had the chance to compete in the Cam Newton Foundation 7v7 Tournament were happy they both took advantage of the opportunity to take them to Savannah last weekend.