By David Knox, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Hewitt-Trussville and Clay-Chalkville will participate for the national championship of 7on7 football beginning Thursday in Hoover.
Forty-eight teams in all will shoot for the title in the three-day competition.
USA Football’s 7on7 National Championship is an invitation-only tournament featuring pool and bracket play. Winning teams from 10 state and regional 7on7 tournaments conducted by USA Football this summer, which featured more than 350 high schools and nearly 11,000 coaches and players, received an automatic invitation. Select high school teams also were invited to compete, which is how Hewitt and Clay earned their bids.
Action begins Thursday at 3 p.m. with pool play. The pools were altered slightly Wednesday morning after The Tribune’s print edition went to press. Hewitt-Trussville is in Pool B with Buckhorn, Park Crossing, Grayson, Ga., Shannon, Miss., and Slidell, La. Clay-Chalkville is in Pool E along with Albertville, Central of Phenix City, Glendale, Mo., Warren Central, Ind., and Wheaton Warrenville South, Ill. Play is on the Hoover High School football field, soccer field and the Hoover Met soccer fields.
Pool play continues Friday morning at those same sites, running until 3 p.m.
Tournament bracket play begins after dinner on Friday, running from 6 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, tournament play continues at 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the soccer fields.
At 3:30 p.m., the championship game is played at Buccaneer Stadium on the Hoover campus. An awards ceremony follows the game.
The pool play games for Hewitt:
Thursday
3 p.m. vs. Shannon, Miss., HHS Soccer Field 3
4 p.m. vs. Grayson, Ga., Buccaneer Stadium, Field 2
5 p.m. vs. Park Crossing, Buccaneer Stadium, Field 1
Friday
8 a.m. vs. Buckhorn, Hoover Met Soccer, Field 5
9 a.m. vs. Slidell, La., Hoover Met Soccer, Field 6
10 a.m. vs. Columbus, Fla., Hoover Met Soccer, Field 6
11 a.m. vs. Cherokee, Ga., Hoover Met Soccer, Field 5
The pool play for Clay:
Thursday
5:30 p.m. vs. Central-Phenix City, HHS Soccer Field 3
6:30 p.m. vs. Wheaton Warrenville South, Ill., HHS Soccer Field 3
7:30 p.m. vs. Warren Central, Ind., Buccaneer Stadium, Field 2
Friday
12:30 p.m. vs. Albertville, HHS Soccer Field 4
1:30 p.m. vs. Glendale, Mo., Hoover Met Soccer, Field 5
2:30 p.m. vs. Florence, Hoover Met Soccer, Field 6
3 p.m. vs. McGill-Toolen, Hoover Met Soccer, Field 6