7-on-7s to decrease in frequency this week with players putting shoulder pads on

MARTIN – These 7-on-7 camps that have been happening across the state this past week are fun to watch.

It’s not the full experience of watching a football game, but it’s kind of like the day before Thanksgiving and your mother or grandmother is beginning to prepare the food for the big meal on Thursday. You get to lick the batter from the cake on that Wednesday. It’s a small sample of something you want enjoy when the holiday celebration arrives, but it’s a small preview of what you’ll enjoy when Thanksgiving arrives.

That’s 7-on-7 camps for anyone who watches them in anticipation of the high school football season.

But they won’t be as frequent this week as they were last week. Because of a change in TSSAA regulations for football’s preseason made last year, teams are allowed to put on shoulder pads starting Monday to go along with the helmets they were allowed to wear last week.

This was a decision made to help in the acclimation process for the players getting used to full equipment in the July heat of Tennessee that gives teams a little more time to prepare for the season. Before last year, players could wear helmets for two weeks then went straight to full gear, but there was a three-day period that limited what they could do while the players got acclimated.

But that rule change has an effect on some teams’ preparation for the season.

“Everybody who does a 7-on-7 is trying to get all theirs in (last week),” said McKenzie head coach Wade Comer. “I don’t know about anybody else, but once we get shoulder pads on, I don’t want to revert back to not wearing shoulder pads for a 7-on-7.”

That’s why Bethel’s camp was moved to a Wednesday this year. UT Martin was able to keep theirs on a Saturday.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp at Trinity Christian is still going on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as the approximate number of about 30 teams who will be there for that can still see the advantage of a little more competition for the players, even if it’s without shoulder pads. And the lineman competition events are always fun too.

Either way we’ve gotten our first taste of the action that is high school football season. Some teams like Comer’s Rebels, Haywood and Dresden looked pretty good consistently throughout the day. Others had their moments but still have work to do.

Of the 18 teams who were in Martin Saturday, none of their head coaches will say they’re happy with their team’s progression as of the middle of July.

So there’s plenty of work remaining, which is a good thing for those of us who are willing to get out and see some of that work happen before the season starts.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.