By Mike Reeder
Contributing Writer

The field is only 45 yards long, there’s not any contact and no one wears pads. There aren’t even any linemen.

So it may seem like a stretch to say that success in the 7-on-7 passing league really means much when the tackle football season gets under way in the fall. But Boerne fans feeling the sting of a predicted second-to-last place district finish for this year’s Boerne Champion Chargers may have good reason to be optimistic based on this summer’s 7-on-7 success.

“Last summer we lost several games and right now we’ve just lost one,” fullback/linebacker Earnest Jones said last week at 7-on-7 practice. “We’re getting our offense down and I think our passing and catching is going to be good.”

“We lost the one game to Tivy and we should have won that one,” fullback Josh Wray said. “We just missed on a couple of plays.”

The University Interscholastic League gave its blessing to summer 7-on-7 football more than a decade ago, and it’s become increasingly popular with the proliferation of passing offenses.

While high school coaches are not allowed to run teams or call plays, they can serve in an administrative capacity. What that basically means is that the wrist bands 7-on-7 players wear have the same pass plays on them that players will be running this fall.

Boerne players struggled last year to adapt to a no-huddle, multiple receiver offense on the fly, and injuries to quarterback Chuck Thornally and several of his receivers often grounded the anticipated air-attack.

Now, with a year of experience under their belts, confusion is giving way to crisp execution.

“We’ve progressed a lot and I think it really shows,” Thornally said. “This year I already know all the plays and what route everybody’s running. I don’t have to worry about it or think about it. I can read the defenses better and I’m seeing the field better. I think the improvement starts right now and it will carry over into the fall.”

Thornally also appears to have found a pair of go-to receivers in Cody Beach and Cody Hawkins. Beach has caught almost everything thrown his way and Hawkins has been a big play receiver in several games.