PAC-6 Fields Five Squads in Beast of the Hill Tourney: Focus on Falcons

Courtesy Don Callahan

If you are interested in PAC-6 football, then this past Friday, the 4th Annual Beast of the Hill 7-on-7 tourney at the University of North Carolina was the place to be in attendance.  Five of the seven current members of the PAC-6 conference were participating, including Hillside, Person, Northern Durham, Jordan and East Chapel Hill. In an earlier post we discussed Hillside and their eventual run to the championship [Hillside and Wakefield Highlight UNC Beast of the Hill Tourney].  I was fortunate enough to get out in the 100 degree heat and take in most of the day and got to see a lot of squads in action including all five of the PAC-6 teams.  As I mentioned in the earlier post I was most impressed with the Hornets, but if you are fan of the PAC-6 or football in the area, then the prospect of some exciting football should make all fans excited to get the 2011 season underway.

The tournament was organized with four pods of six teams each and allowed for five games during the round-robin to establish a first and second place finisher.  The top teams from each pod were then moved to the elimination round in a four team championship.  The four second place finishers were placed in a lower level championship round to establish a second tier (lower flight) champion.  Both Hillside and East Chapel Hill moved through their pods undefeated, while Jordan tallied a 3-2 mark and both Northern Durham and Person finished at 1-4.  East Chapel Hill fell in the semifinals to Wakefield, while Jordan lost out on the chance to make either elimination bracket with a final round robin overtime loss to Hermitage High School out of Richmond, VA.  Both Northern and Person ended up near the bottom of their respective pods, but there were positives from both squads.

Jordan brought two squads to the event, an 'A' team and 'B' team comprised primarily of underclassmen and jayvee players.  The 'A' team was in a pod with eventual pod champ Hermitage (Richmond, VA), Leesville Road,  Great Bridge (Chesapeake, VA) and Northern Nash.  West Mecklenburg was also in the pod, but pulled out and provided each of the remaining five teams with a forfeit win.  The Falcons ended up 2-2 against the teams in attendance and 3-2 with the forfeit win against West Meck.  They opened up the tourney with an early morning loss to eventual lower level champ Leesville Road, 18-0 and followed it up with a 20-14 win over Great Bridge.  Prior to lunch they picked up another win against Northern Nash, 18-6, before falling in overtime to Hermitage in the final round robin game of the day.  The Falcons had a tough draw, with Leesville ending up with just one loss on the day to Hermitage in round-robin play and Hermitage going undefeated in round-robin play to eventually bow out in the semis of the championship tourney to an undefeated Hillside squad.

Falcons Soaring in Summer Events as They Prep for 2011

Courtesy J.Clark

The offseason has gradually changed over the years from a time once consumed with building the strength of the program through consistent strength work to a multi-tiered and organized season unto itself. Augmenting a typically intense strength program are extensive conditioning sessions, agility and speed work, and focused skill-development that in many cases is periodically tested throughout the summer at passing league events.  In years past, these events were primarily of the 'friendly' variety where events were held at a local school and a number of programs would convene and work what they had installed with coaches on the field and copious amounts of time allowed between reps in order to coach-up their team.  Over the past five to ten years, more 'competitive' 7-on-7's have hit the scene and it is not unusual to see schools mix up their passing league schedule with a number of the more coachable events with one or two tournament-centric events.  Although both types of event have their positives, the latter of these two events is a great way to strengthen what has been installed during the summer, while adding a bit more 'game-like' pressure and feel in a more Friday Night Lights type environment.

Throughout this summer the Jordan Falcons have been a great example of one of our area teams that has taken part in a number of passing league events, spanning both genres.  The Falcons, coming off a 7-5 campaign in 2010 where they pushed one of the top teams from Fayetteville to the brink in the first round of the playoffs, are looking to gain momentum from the performance they put forth against 71st and transfer it to the upcoming 2011 season.  The continued maturation of the 2011 Falcons has been evident in how they've worked as a cohesive unit this summer in their passing leagues.  The Falcons have participated in a number of events at local high schools, including Carrboro High and Northern Vance, as well as travelling to Greensboro for the Holt Brothers Foundation 7-on-7 and more recently the 4th Annual UNC Beast of the Hill competition.  Reports from all of the events have been positive for the Falcons as they work to adjust in many ways to the loss of an extensive senior class that was highlighted by current Tarheel, T.J. Thorpe.

One of the more impressive showings by the Falcons came just about a month ago when they participated with a number of Triad teams in Torry and Terrence Holt's Annual 7-on-7 Tournament.  More details on the Holt Foundation and associated camp and tournament can be found in a previous article [Falcons Invade Holt Brothers 7-on-7].  The Falcons, after going 4-0-1 at the Carrboro event just prior to the Holt Tourney turned in a solid performance from all accounts in posting an undefeated record and capturing the championship.  The Falcons picked up wins against George Washington Danville High School (Virginia), Greensboro Page, Eastern Guilford, Southern Alamance and Burlington Cummings.

After the event I was able to catch up with two of the rising seniors for the Falcons, Jeff Clark and Nick Drew.  Clark will be one of the wide receivers stepping into a more prominent role offensively with the departure of Thorpe, while Drew will be looking to lock-down half of the field as one of the cornerbacks on the Falcons roster.

Hillside Finishes Strong at Byrnes 7-on-7

Courtesy Jackson/RIVALS.COM

The story of the first day of the Palmetto State National 7-on-7 competition hosted by South Carolina powerhouse Byrnes was the Spartans of Southern Durham.  According to reports from the event, coaches from across the nation that were at the event expressed the fact that they were definitely impressed with the play of the Spartans.  Heading into the conclusion of Friday night's preliminary action, the Spartans had dropped just one of their six matches and appeared to be headed to a solid seed and potential push for the championship once elimination play began on Saturday afternoon.

Check out information and video on both Durham squads via. iHigh.com

Cross-town rival, Hillside, still fresh off their impressive 2010 campaign, had a lot of the 'name recognition' coming into the event as the 4A state champs from NC, but for those that follow the Hornets and the scene here in Durham, most would have immediately said that equating this year's squad to last and expecting the same results might be overreaching just a bit.  The loss of all-everything dual-threat quarterback phenom Vad Lee, as well as a core group of skill players on both sides of the ball was something the Hornets would have to deal with and the competition they would face would not give them much time to 'ease into it'.  The reports heading into the afternoon sessions on Friday were that it was clear the Hornets were adjusting to new faces, but it was also clear that a solid system, directed by Coach King, was allowing the Hornets to compete and at the very least stay even with a chance to gain momentum going into Saturday.

Article from Dallas Jackson - Rivals High - Hornets filling the loss of QB Vad Lee

Courtesy Marques Burnett/iHigh

Saturday was a new day and with it the momentum clearly moved in the direction of the Hornets.  Out of the twenty schools competing, when they made it down to the final eight, the Hornets and not the Spartans were still standing.  Inclement weather had been looming heading into Saturday and as the elimination rounds moved forward, rain and lightening put a temporary stop to action.  During that time period, reports were that the Hornets decided that rather than wait out the weather, it was best to pack-up and head back to Durham.  With that decision the Hornets were required to forfeit the remainder of the games, but it's clear that the purpose of the event was in many ways met for the Hornets, forfeiture or not - quality reps against quality competition for a squad that needs every rep necessary to get ready for that first game of the 2011 season and a PAC-6 and 4A championship defense.

As for the Spartans - we knew that a number of their skill players would be returning this year and it was expected that between the two dominant programs in Durham, the Spartans would have the on-field experience, especially at the quarterback position with Dorian Belcher making the gears turn.  Every report was that in fact that was the case and Belcher and wide receiver Darren Bullock as well as a cast of Spartans were setting the tone and providing what we here in Durham like to call some 'Bull City Lockdown'.

Courtesy Marques Burnett/iHigh

Both squads made strides this past weekend and from my perspective what I appreciate the most is seeing two programs take the initiative to challenge their athletes to compete in an environment out of the norm.  One filled with high caliber competition and positioned to help support the student-athlete from a visibility and recruiting perspective as well -- because of the coverage an event like this is garnering nowadays.  Events like these are not for every program - all the time - but there is not doubt it made sense for both the Hornets and Spartans and not only did they simply participate they helped continue to promote not only the growth of both of their programs but also the growth and talent base here in Durham, North Carolina, aka 'the Bull City'.

We'd like extend a special thanks to Dallas Jackson at Rivals High (you can follow Dallas via Twitter @RivalsHigh) for information during the event as well as the use of some photographs.  Also, thanks to Marques Burnett of iHigh for the use of photographs as well as information on the Byrnes event.  If you are interested in any of the pictures from iHigh and there are many more than what I've placed in this article, contact Marques via the iHigh site, the link is provided near the beginning of the story.  Again, thanks to both Dallas and Marques!

It's On! Hornets and Spartans Travel to Byrnes SC

For some schools across North Carolina, the 2011 football season began shortly after their 2010 season ended with extensive strength and conditioning programs ramping up to place their athletes in the best possible position to excel on the gridiron.  Aside from the necessary dead-period near the end of 2010, associated with the change in sports seasons and exams, a number of schools took advantage of North Carolina's rule book and were back out on the field for limited skill work - working ball skills, technique and an occasional 7-on-7 within squad.  For everyone else - that perhaps took it a bit easy - this past Monday in many school districts and most notably in Durham marked the '...you best get everyone out and started workin' it hard, not-mandatory-officially, but mandatory-unofficially start of 2011 ball...'  Schools across the county, Northern Durham, Riverside, Jordan, Southern and Hillside all had some form of workouts or prep for 7-on-7 in progress.  Two programs in particular that have been the class of the PAC-6 the past few seasons were in the progress of putting the final touches on a trip down south to take on some big-time programs in what has become one of the top regional 7-on-7 competitions in this area!

The 11th Annual Palmetto State Showdown hosted by Byrnes HS ramped into full gear earlier this morning with two of Durham's top programs making the trip south to compete for top prize.  Coach Antonio King's 4A State Champion Hillside Hornets and Coach Adrian Jones consistently impressive Southern Spartans are two of 20 teams taking part in this annual event.  The national 7-on-7 tournament is being held today and tomorrow and will include a preliminary round set-up throughout today and tomorrow morning, culminating with an elimination tournament tomorrow afternoon.

The list of schools in attendance is impressive, with state champions and perennial playoff participants in abundance.  Byrnes HS will field an A and B team (2010 SC State Champs) and Myrtle Beach, SC, another 2010 SC State Champ will also be attendance.  Georgia and New Jersey state runners-up, Bergen Catholic and Colquitt County will also be attendance.  Add to that a total of nine other state playoff teams from a year ago, not including Southern or Hillside and the field is loaded with high quality, well-coached competition - exactly the type of atmosphere that programs that wish to challenge both their athletes and coaches, seek out - in order to continue to up the bar!

The Hornets are slated to take on the following 10 teams in preliminary action: Spartanburg, SC (2010 SC state semi-finalists), Brunswick, GA (2010 state playoffs), Dover, DE, Wren, SC (2010 state playoffs and last year's tournament champ), Kings Mtn, NC (2010 state playoffs), Byrnes B (essentially JV and frosh), Greenville, SC (2010 state playoffs), Myrtle Beach, SC (2010 SC state champs), Lexington, SC (2010 state semi-finalists) and N. Gwinnett, GA (2010 state playoffs).

The Spartans also have a full slate including the following: Myrtle Beach, SC, Oxford, AL, Woodruff, SC (2010 state semi-finalists), Greenville, SC, Bergen Catholic, NJ (2010 state runner-up), N. Gwinnett, GA, Kings Mtn, NC, Spartanburg, SC, Chesterfield, SC (2010 state playoffs) and Blythewood, SC.

Will be interesting to see as the next two day's progress as to how our local boys are doing down south!

You can visit for more information on this event at the following link - Information on Palmetto State 7-on-7

Rivals.com breaks down the field - Rivals.com Breakdown