Yuma Catholic football hosts 7-on-7s

Cibola, Yuma High, Gila Ridge also at event

It is only one week into June, but football season is fast approaching.

Yuma’s football teams were able to get a brief look at each other and themselves in a competitive format Tuesday evening for a 7-on-7 event hosted by Yuma Catholic at Ricky Gwynn Stadium.

Yuma Catholic, Yuma High, Cibola, Gila Ridge and Central (Calif.) all participated in the three-hour contest, with two matchups going at a time. And though the coaches know a 7-on-7 drill — only pass plays with no linemen involved — does not provide a realistic game simulation, it still at least gives their players a chance to go against a different opponent.

“It’s great to just get the kids out here competing right now this early in the summer, and see who’s really ready to compete,” Shamrocks coach Aaron Cheatwood said.

Cheatwood, entering his second year as head coach after going 9-3 and reaching the 3A quarterfinals, also likes the rare chance to host and play against Yuma Union High School District teams.

“We’ll take whatever we can get, and we showed pretty well,” Cheatwood said.

With last year’s starting quarterback James Stover now gone, junior JR Henderson and sophomore Gage Reese split repetitions under center. Henderson was all over the field Thursday, playing wide receiver when Reese was quarterback and hovering as a free safety on defense. Running back/cornerback Jaylen Barnes and defensive end Daniel Callender won’t be easy to replace, but the defense that surrendered only 10.8 points per game returns four of its five leading tacklers (Harrison Long, Jason Pisano, Richard Molina and Yohan Stokes), all of whom were Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club all-region selections.

For Cibola and Yuma High, getting an early look at how their skill-position players fare with other teams will be important as they head in 2017 with some changes.

For the Raiders, those changes are in personnel. In 2016, they had an excep-