JOHN CURTIS - Daily Union Sports Editor
The 7 on 7 prep football summer season started last Thursday, with Shelbyville hosting area rival Pana. Shelby made it a quick start.
Shelbyville ran out to a big early lead with Caine Cloe directing the offense and Bo Buhrmester coming up with an early interception. Pana was frustrated early, but then found their rhythm. They scored on successive possessions, finishing strong.
The 7 on 7 is a competition between the skilled players. They play without pads, without helmets, no tackling and without any rush. They stop play after a player with the ball is touched. Each offense has a quarterback, running backs and ends with no line. On defense, each team has linebackers and defensive backs, no line.
They each take turns running their offense from the 40-yard line in with four downs to make a first down and work their way toward the goal line. After a touchdown, the offense also tries a 2-point conversion. An interception or failure to make a first down or TD turns the ball over and the other team starts at the 40.
Coach Ross Forlines of Shelbyville laid out the ground rules for the competition.
“We want this to be competitive,” Coach Forlines told both teams. “Push each other, but play smart. We don’t want anyone hurt in June.”
Cloe went 3-for-3 in the Rams first possession, going underneath the defense short two times, once to Buhrmester and once to Levi Pruemer. Cloe then hit Buhrmester deep behind the Pana defense, and he took it on in for the first score. Cloe then connected with Shawn Bly for the extra point conversion.
“We moved the ball extremely well,” Coach Forlines said. “We scored our first three series and Caine (Cloe) looked good. The best thing was that he (QB Cloe) was recognizing what they (Pana) were doing and would go to his second or third receiver. He put the ball on the receivers and made it easy for them to catch balls.”
Pana, which made the playoffs last year, struggled early. They went 4 and out in their first possession.
The Rams got the ball back and Cloe went 5-for-6 passing. Bly caught three of the balls and Nate Holmes one. Bly got them close to the goal line and then Cloe capped the drive with a TD pass to Kyle Helmuth. The points after attempt, a jump ball, was no good.
Pana’s QB Cody McLaughlin connected with Dominick Rice for a first down on their next possession, but a high throw on the next play ended up in the hands of Ram safety Buhrmester. He took off the other way and no one caught him.
On the Rams next possession, Cloe went 4-for-5 before throwing his third TD pass. He hit Holmes for a first down and then a deep out to Pruemer for another first down. Cloe rolled right, then threw across his body back to the left to Pruemer again for another first down. Dylan Sarver was wide open on a flag pattern and he took it to pay dirt. Shelbyville had three TD’s and a pick six and Pana still had nothing to show for their efforts. But, that ended on the next possession, as Pana finally got in sync and they began to score.
Pana scored quickly. McLaughin threw to Nick Spracklin for a first down. Shelby covered the next attempt, but Mac came right back with a TD pass to his #1 receiver Drew Bland. The conversion failed, but they were on the scoreboard. They would score on three of their next four possessions.
“They found success with some of their crossing routes and found some holes in our defense,” Coach Forlines said. “We had changed our defense and some of those mistakes were due to confusion.”
The Rams faltered on their next possession with Cloe going 4 and out, thanks to two dropped balls and a near-interception on a deep ball.
Pana came right back to score. Mac rolled out and hit Spracklin underneath. Facing third and 10. McLaughlin got the ball to Rice , then converted a 4th down play on a deep out to Jake Cutler, in-between the Ram zone. Mac threw a lob back against the flow to Jake Wicks, who sealed off the defender and came down for the score. The conversion was good on a fade route to Bland.
Pana had closed the gap between them and Shelby to one touchdown and a pick six. However, that gap would continue as the Rams responded.
Cloe went 4-of-5 on the next possession and a TD. He threw to Buhrmester for a first down. Sarver caught a ball out of the back field for a first down. Cloe then hit Buhrmester deep again, this time in the corner for a TD. The conversion attempt was dropped, but Shelby was back to a 2-score lead.
However, Pana was cooking with gas and they came right back. McLaughlin hit Bland for a 9-yard gain. They ran one of their patented plays next. McLaughin threw underneath t Adam Metzger, who then flipped the ball to Cutler, who went up the sideline for a first down. Bland caught a ball on a crossing route. Pana faced a 3rd and 10 and went underneath to Bland for another 9-yarder. On 4th and 1, Bland ran a fade route and had the edge. Bly went up with him and interfered, breaking up the play. Pana got another chance. Cutler got in the way of the defender on the next play and Bland caught the ball underneath for the score, Pana’s third straight.
Cody Langan, Shelby’s junior quarterback came in for a series. He was off.
“That first series I think he rushed things,” said Coach Forlines. “The second possession he felt more comfortable.”
Langan went 3-for-7 his first series. He missed deep, then came back with a short pass to Helmuth. A Ram receiver dropped the next ball. Facing 4th and 5, Langan threw the same pattern and Bly caught it for a first down. Bly then made a shoe string catch for 5 yards, but the next three Langan passes went incomplete. Pana took over on downs.
Pana put a back-up quarterback in for a series, lefty Derek Lesser. His first pass was for a first down to Spracklin. The next pass was incomplete and the following pass was defended by Pruemer. On 3rd and 10, Hoene covered Spracklin on a crossing pattern. Spracklin caught the ball, but Hoene was on him, bringing up 4th and 5. Eric Hightower had a good defensive effort on a deep out and Pana turned the ball over on downs.
Still with a one score lead, Langan came back for a second series at Ram QB. He went 4-for-4 this time and a TD. Langan hit Buhrmester for eight yards, then connected with Sarver in the flat for a first down. Langan threw to Buhrmester underneath to make it 2nd and 5. Buhrmester went deep in the end zone on the next play and Langan put it right to him for the score. The conversion failed, but the Rams were back up two scores, ensuring the win.
McLaughlin came back in for Pana for their final series. He threw to Bland in the end zone on the first play, but the ball was dropped. He hit Cutler underneath to bring 3rd and 5, then got it to Spracklin on an underneath crossing pattern for a first down. A bomb to Rice was incomplete, but a short pass to Jesse Wicks made it 3rd and 5. McLaughlin went deep in the corner against Shelby defender Helmuth. Helmuth made the pick, but was out of bounds in the end zone.
Facing 4th and 5, McLaughlin threw back against the grain to Bland crossing between the Ram zone for a first down. They ran the same play to bring up 2nd and 4. A fade pattern was incomplete, but the Arnold caught a ball near the goal line bringing up 4th and goal. McLaughlin threw to Cutler underneath for the score. The conversion pass was dropped and the 7 on 7 was over.
The Ram skilled players had their skill show through, except for a few dropped balls.
“Shawn Bly had a good night,” Coach Forlines said. “We used him on some short routes and he was difficult to defend. Bo (Buhrmester) had a good night, offensively and defensively. He showed a lot of range in the safety position.”
“(Dylan) Sarver was good coming out of the backfield. Our two ends, Levi Pruemer, who hasn’t played for a few years, and Nate Holmes played well.
Kyle Helmuth was good on offense, in fact, the Stew-Stras guys all did well and were not reluctant to jump in there. Jon Hoene (linebacker), he is big and physical, but he impressed me because he was thinking out there. He realized what to do. He identified the routes and, although they made a few catches, he was right there with them.”
The Ram freshmen went up against the Pana freshmen at the other end of the field. The Ram coaches reported that they outscored Pana, but that they thought Pana out-played them, especially on defense.
“When they were in JFL they ran a different defense and they had a tough time making the adjustment,” Coach Forlines said.
Pana is scheduled to play at the EIU 7 on 7, while the Rams’ next 7 on 7 is yet to be confirmed.
Ram stats: Cloe 16-of-23 4 TDs, 1 ex pt; Langan 7-of-11 1 TD; bo 3 TDs, INT return; Helmuth TD; Sarver TD; Bly ex pt;
Pana stats: McLaughlin 21-of-35, 4 TDs, 1 ex pt; lesser 2/5; bland 2 TDs, 1 ex pt; Jake wicks TD
Scoring:
cloe 3 for 3 bomb to bo td, bly ex pt- 8-0
mc 4 and out 1/4
cloe 5of 6 helmuth td ex pt ng 14-0
Mc 2/4 bo int return
cloe 4/5 sarver flag td, ex pt ng 20-0
mc2/4 bland TD, ex pt ng 20-6
Cloe 0/4 4 and out
mc 4/5 Jake wicks lob TD, ex pt fade bland 20-14
cloe 4/5 TD deep corner Bo, ex pt dropped 26-14
mc 5/7 bland td ex pt ng 26-20
langan 3/7
lesser 2/5
langan 4/4 TD Bo deep corner, e xpt ng, 32-20
mc 7/11 cutler underneath TD, ex pt ng, 32-26
