The Asbury Rams varsity football team is getting to work as the 2025 season approaches this August, traveling to Sand Mountain Park in Albertville last Thursday to take part in seven on seven play.
“We’re growing and we’re learning,” Rams head coach Matt Harris said. “We’ve got kids that are really young and don’t have that much varsity experience but they are giving their best effort which is what we want first and foremost. They are learning how to mesh with each other and run the system how we need them to run it. The good thing about summer ball is that you can throw a pick or miss a pass out the back of the endzone and it won’t kill you.”
The Rams were one of sixteen teams to take part in the scrimmage, with each game lasting about twenty-five minutes before teams were rotated. Each team played three pool matches and were then split into single elimination brackets for the finale. Seven on seven matches are minimum contact, tag-out style play and entirely made up of passing plays giving quarterbacks and receivers plenty of chances to show their skill.
For their pool play Asbury faced off against Douglas, Plainview and Gaston before being eliminated in bracket play by Sand Rock. Junior Blake Hillis went on as quarterback to start things off with Douglas. Hillis threw four complete passes against the Eagles with ten incompletes and an out of bounds catch, getting the Rams into scoring position on their second possession.
“Blake is a junior and has played football for me since his pee wee days,” Harris said. “He played junior high and varsity and has some tangible skill but most of all he is always learning and trying to get better.”
In their second pool match against Plainview Hillis was again the starting quarterback, throwing six complete passes with one interception. The Rams would mix things up for their final pool game against Gaston, starting Hillis for their first three possessions before moving him out to bring on freshman Levi Jacobi. Despite the change-up Hillis had his most successful game of the day against Guston, hitting four complete passes in a single possession that included a deep hit to senior receiver Kaiden Stanfield.
With Jacobi on deck the Rams finally started seeing some forward progress, with him connecting with Hillis on two consecutive passes and grabbing their first touchdown of the day.
“Blake and Levi have some good chemistry,” Harris said. “These kids in general have had better chemistry than some of our teams in the past few years. They mesh together well and when they’re in the weight room or on the field you can really see it in action.”
The Rams would fall in their first elimination game against Sand Rock, keeping Jacobi at quarterback and Hillis as a receiver. They would hit a complete pass that very nearly earned them another touchdown but it was unfortunately called back.
The Rams will play their next seven on seven games on Thursday at KDS-DAR school in Grant starting at 9 am. They will kick off their season on August 15 with a jamboree game against Ider before officially opening at home on August 22 against Gaston. Games kick off at 7 pm.