7-on-7: MV to host 14 football teams

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Jun 1, 2023 | Football |

WINDOW ROCK

Fourteen teams are registered to compete in Monument Valley’s 7-on-7 football tournament on Saturday.

The Mustangs will entertain teams from three states and they include Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain, El Capitan, Flagstaff, Gallup, Ganado, Hopi, Miyamura, Piñon, Shiprock, Tuba City, Window Rock and San Juan High from Blanding, Utah.

“This is our 15th year and I’ve always enjoyed hosting this tournament,” longtime MV coach Bryan Begay said while adding that his team has to travel far to play in other 7-on-7 tournaments.

“Having this tournament is an opportunity to keep everything close to home,” he said. “We wanted to try and get as many teams here so that we can throw the ball and get as many reps on each side of the ball.”

And with the addition of the new playing field, Begay said it’ll give the school district an opportunity to showcase its new and improved football field.

The Mustang coach added that each squad will have at least four pool games, followed by a single elimination tournament. To coincide with the 7-on-7 tournament, MV will host its first-ever big man challenge.

“We have some good leaders that returned from that line,” Begay said.

On Monday night, the MV linemen won the big man challenge at the Arizona Christian University hosted event in Phoenix.

“Those guys work hard and, you know, they come to practice every day,” Begay said. “They’re pretty much at every weight room session. They’re slowly getting in reps and we want them to understand how to play all possessions just in case things go down towards the end of the year.

“We want to make sure that if a person goes down, we can rotate our line,” he added. “We want them to understand how to play all five positions, and we want them to sustain blocks.”

In addition, Begay said they’ll be able to work on their agility.

“We have some younger kids who are trying to fill in those roles,” he said. “You know, our younger kids are just as important as our older kids.”

With 28 seniors that graduated this past year, Begay said they need to get as many reps as they can during the offseason. With it being early, the MV coach noted that the skill positions have not been determined.

“We’re just trying to get comfortable with each other right now,” he said. “It’s going to come down to whoever shows up and does their best and plays those positions.”

At the 7-on-7 at ACU, Begay had 21 kids take part of the tournament.

“We were rotating bodies, and we were rotating quarterbacks,” he said. “It’s one of those deals to where we would get a kid one rep and sub him out for another kid to get in.”

In addition to this weekend’s tournament, Begay said the MV squad is scheduled to go to Tucson, Holbrook and San Diego later this month.

“We’re trying to get six camps in by the end of June,” he said.

“We’re gonna go on a short vacation break and then we’ll start the football season July 24.”