2010 Sonic Air Raid Preview

Over the last few years, the Sonic Air Raid in Searcy (hosted at Harding Academy) as been the unofficial kick-off to the 7-on-7 season.  In fact, last year we named this tournament (the state's 3rd largest) the first leg of the Arkansas 7-on-7 Triple Crown. The Shootout of the South and Vype Select tournaments complete the state's triple crown competition.

Once again, this one day tournament on June 5 boasts a very impressive field.  The field is divided into 4 sections for Division or Pool Play.  The top 2 teams from each pool advance to the Land O' Frost Championship double elimination bracket.  The lower 2 teams from each division will participate in the Sonic Consolation double elimination bracket.

Here are the divisions for this Saturday:

• Division A
• Conway
• Pulaski Academy Blue
• Pine Bluff
• Searcy
• Division B
• Greenbriar
• Lake Hamilton
• Pulaski Academy Gold
• Watson Chapel
• Division C
• Bald Knob
• Greene County Tech
• Harding Academy
• Lonoke
• Division D
• Conway Christian
• Des Arc
• Dewitt
• Rose Bud

We look for a very competitive day of 7-on-7 football in Searcy with division games starting  at 10 am.  The double elimination bracket play will begin at 1:30 pm.  The bracket championship games are scheduled for 5:15 pm (with an "If Necessary" game at 6 pm).  We hope that you get a chance to take in the action on Saturday.

East Texas Baptist Tournament Date Set

Recently, we received a comment that let us know that East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX will be holding the 3rd annual East Texas Baptist University 7 on 7 Tournament on May 29, 2010.  Since there is such a short time frame involved, we encourage any teams interested in getting a jump on the Arkansas schedule that begins June 5 in Searcy and West Memphis to contact Coach Bryant (zbryant@etbu.edu) for more information.

Coach Bryant is hoping to build on the tremendous success that they have seen in the past two years. ETBU is building another top notch field this year. For the Texas teams attending the tournament, it will be a good warm-up prior to the State Qualifying Tournaments (SQT's) in in Tyler, Lufkin, Dallas Area, and Ft. Bend. For teams planning to get ready for team camps, this tournament also precedes the East Texas Baptist University with Oklahoma State University 2010 Travel Camp (featuring the Oklahoma State University Football Staff) that will occur on June 16, 2010 starting at 8:30 am. 

Thanks to Coach Bryant.  Coaches please contact him for a spot in this tournament with our neighbors.

Arkansas State Announces Camp Dates

- From the Arkansas State University Sports Information Department -

Arkansas State head football coach Steve Roberts is gearing up for his 2010 individual and team camps that are set to take place during the upcoming summer months. ASU will host a youth camp as well.

Roberts will be hosting individual camp and team camps June 9-11 and a junior/senior elite camp June 13 and July 24. The youth camp will be held June 14-16.

"We are very excited to host these camps again this summer," said Roberts. "We're ready to work with these young players and help them to improve their football skills."

The individual and team camps are open to students grades 7-12, and check-in for both camps begins June 9 at 11:00 a.m. Players can choose to stay overnight during the camps, and camp rates will increase after pre-registration concludes June 1. Early registration individual camp rates at $195 overnight and $170 for day instruction only. Team camp rates vary by the number of players, and teams should register together.

Roberts' junior/senior elite camps are open to high school juniors and seniors. Registration will begin at 11:00 a.m. with instruction running through 6:00 p.m. both days. Tuition for each day is $25.

This year's youth camp is open to girls and boys ages 7-12 and will cost $85 for the three days with limited scholarships available. Fundamentals of football will be taught along with punting, passing and kicking being introduced to the campers. Campers will participate in a scrimmage, tour the ASU football facility, get a demonstration in the weight room and listen to daily speakers. For more information on the youth camp, contact Kyle Shipp or Jason Gregory at 870-972-2082.

Primary medical insurance is required for participation in the camps, and a $50 deposit is due with the registration form. Players should bring camp clothes, football cleats, a helmet and a mouthpiece each day. Individual and team campers should bring shoulder pads and a jersey as well. Students staying overnight should bring toiletries, pillow, sheets and a blanket.

For more information and registration forms, visit www.AStateRedWolves.com.

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The registration form can also be found in our "Camps" section in the lower right sidebar. -- AFB

Playing "Cover 2"

A cover 2 scheme can be very effective for a defense because it allows more defenders to stay in the shorter passing lanes or pressure the passer. However, most high school defensive coordinators get into that cover 2 the same way every time: Simply dropping the free and strong safeties into a coverage that divides the deep "halves." This scheme is a textbook rotation into a cover 2 and is one of the more simple reads for a spread passing QB. Most offensive coaches will tell you that you will have a very long night on defense if you continue to show the same look and rotate into a coverage the same way. This is especially true for the pass only offenses that you see during a 7-on-7 tournament or camp.

So, as a defensive coach, how can you vary the coverage rotation so that you keep as many defenders as possible in the short zones while still playing a fundamentally sound cover 2 scheme? This article is intended to give a defensive coordinator some different ideas to confuse and frustrate a passing attack that usually feasts on cover 2.

In the video below, we first show a cover 2 base defense versus a "Doubles" formation. We then show different ways to rotate into that coverage beginning with a cover 3 base. Here is the order of the slides in the video.

1. Base Cover 2

2. Dropping the SS back to halves and rotating FS and LB's accordingly. As stated above, this is the most popular method to roll into cover 2.

3 & 4. Shift the LB's out to cover for a CB that will drop into deep halves. #3 is the same as #2, just going the opposite way.

5. Pull the FS down and drop the SS and OLB into deep halves.

6. This is not roll as much as a variation of cover 2. Cover 2 Buc (or Tampa 2) which is actually a hybrid cover 3 of sorts as the MLB drops into the deep middle while the two safeties can cover further outside the hash. This keeps teams from exploiting the deep middle -- the weakness of the cover 2 defense.

By no means is this an exhaustive list, but hopefully this will give you some ideas to work from. The reason this can be effective is that, when you are facing good teams where the quarterback is making pre-snap reads and the receivers are adjusting routes based on coverage, it can confuse either or both. This confusion will lead to positive plays for your 7-on-7 defense.

2010 Harding University 7-on-7 Team Camp

The Harding University Bisons coaching staff will be conducting a 7-on-7 Football camp June 11-12. Last year, the camp (held in Searcy, Arkansas) hosted about 25 Varsity teams from 8 states. This year, the staff is planning to host both Varsity and JV competitions between teams from Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
Some highlights that we see in this camp:

• Lots of football on Friday and Saturday
• Admission is FREE for spectators
• Teams can work on their passing game against other quality opponents from different states
• Players get exposure to a college campus, a sample of dorm life, and contact with NCAA Division II Football Coaches
• Teams get a chance to start working on chemistry by spending a weekend together

The cost of the camp is very reasonable. For a small additional fee, the Bison coaching staff can handle the overnight arrangements for your team. If you want more information, the brochure for the camp is located at the Harding University Athletics site (Sports Camps). Special thanks goes out to Coach Clay Beason for the information!

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We are just starting to hear from coaches and players about the schedules for the 2010 7-on-7 Football season. As those dates firm up and we hear from organizers, we will get that information out to you. If you have information for us, leave a comment or email us at arkansasfootballbloggers@gmail.com. Also, check the sidebars for "Camps". We will put links to the camps that we hear about there.

National Signing Day*

If you follow college football to any real degree, you know that the culmination of a recruiting season is just around the corner.  Next week, we have "National Signing Day" when high school players from across the country make their decision on where they will play college ball.  While I did live in Texas for a while (where there are just 2 seasons - Football and Recruiting), I never did buy into the hype surrounding the recruiting rankings.  Every year, Notre Dame finishes in the Top 5-10 in recruiting (they win the National Recruiting Championship every couple of years), but somehow, those blue chippers never seem to pan out.

I have several theories on why that recruiting high school players (or drafting college ones) is such an inexact science. First, with "top level" high school players, you never really get to see them compete against guys of comparable athletic ability.  Whether it is the best RB in Nebraska or the top LB in Minnesota, the talent around them and against them makes the evaluation process difficult.  I know that many states have started "recruiting combines" to allow prospects to perform against others in standardized tests of athletic ability. These combines don't get at the true football player, though.

Second, recruiting ranking services are in the business of making money.  They don't sell as many magazines or website subscriptions if they are telling Irish fans that the recruits the coach is bringing in are not as good as the recruits TCU or Boise State has.  It has been my experience that certain schools (e.g., Florida, Texas, Alabama, USC) showing interests in a kid brings up ratings while those same schools can drop a kid's rating by dropping out of the sweepstakes for his talent. While this is anecdotal, I don't know how to measure it any other way.

Finally, I am one that believes winning feeds itself.  Bowl teams get extra practices (15 or so) to develop those "blue chippers" that non-bowl teams don't get.  These extra practices allow the players at those schools to develop on a quicker schedule.  Thus, whether or not the recruiting rankings have any merit is nullified by the extra experience the top schools get during bowl practices.

In any case, I refuse to get disappointed over the whimsical choices of 17- and 18-year old boys.  I do hope the kids are choosing schools that fit them rather than who is the coach.  As we have seen recently, even the most secure coaches (Urban Meyer) aren't guaranteed to be there for graduation.  I know, that's old fashioned, but we are talking about COLLEGE football.

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*Cross posted at 4th an 10.