Teams gear up for football season with 7-on-7 camp

LENNOX, S.D. (KELO) — 28 teams from five states traveled to Lennox Wednesday to compete in a day long 7-on-7 tournament and the players learned some things out on the field ahead of the 2024 high school football season.

Teams from South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska competed in a scrimmage camp tournament in Lennox. The teams were split into five divisions that took part in pool play, fighting for a chance to compete in the championship.

“It’s good for offense and defense just to get reps against another team, just the timing with receivers. And it’s great because it’s competing against some other schools, especially some schools that are in the area that we won’t play in the regular season. So it’s just good to see little variety,” Lennox head coach Shawn Flanagan said

Putting in nine hours of work on the field can be grueling but for the Orioles, it’s about improving their pass game.

“Looking at how they’re covering when you go up to the line. So if they’re like pressed outside, you go inside, just try to get open and telling the coach what you’re seeing out there to make plays easier for the quarterback,” Lennox senior wide receiver Chase Faulds said.

Both offense and defense got the reps they needed to improve for the upcoming season.

“And it’s good for our defense to get in our coverages, getting our checks, and play some good pass defense. I know it’s not 100% realistic, but with football, it’s hard to play full contact football year round,” coach said.

Each team played in at least three games, which was not taxing, thanks to the cooler than normal weather.

“We couldn’t ask for better weather, honestly, 78 degrees, I think is the high. A little bit of sun, some cloud cover. It’s nice, especially being out here for almost eight, nine hours. It’s perfect. So we really lucked out on the weather,” Flanagan said.

Helping teams prepare for Friday night lights.

A total of 60 games were played with the final contests wrapping up around 5:00.

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