Longhorns hope to bring home state title
George Ranch gets in fall shape for summer tournament this weekend
It has not taken long for George Ranch to establish itself as one of the football teams to beat in the fall.
Now the Longhorns are having a little summer fun, too.
George Ranch has qualified for the 7-on-7 state tournament for the first time. The Longhorns will compete in the Division I field Friday and Saturday in College Station. They have drawn a pool with Colleyville, Fort Worth All Saints and The Woodlands.
Head coach Ricky Tullos has not emphasized 7-on-7 in the first few years, but he said qualifying for state is still a big deal.
“Any time you can compete and get the kids out running around and catching balls and defending balls, it’s a good thing,” Tullos said. “That’s what we utilize it for. We don’t run a lot of our offense or defense. It’s more of a chance for our kids to compete.”
George Ranch has loads of talent all around the field, but this summer the Longhorns have had to debut a new quarterback. Antonio Jackson will take over for Timon Nolan. Jackson got to play in the regional championship game against Temple last fall when Nolan got hurt. Jackson did well, throwing two touchdown passes in his short time.
“He has had to grow up faster,” Tullos said. “That playoff experience has carried over into the offseason and now in 7-on-7. He is really taking the team and leading them.”
One of his best options on offense is running back Darius Anderson, who has more than 20 scholarship offers from Division I colleges. Defensively, the Longhorns have been led this summer by cornerback Mikial Onu, an SMU pledge, and safety Adam Beck.
George Ranch has never put much emphasis on 7-on-7, which is another reason why Tullos has been impressed with what the team has accomplished this summer. The Longhorns qualified at a tournament hosted by Terry on June 6.
“To watch our kids compete and play at the level they did was a spillover from the last two season we’ve had,” he said. “They expect to win no matter what they’re doing.”
The Fort Bend area has had a team advance to the championship bracket in each of the last three state tournaments. Last year Ridge Point made it to the semifinals. Two years ago Terry advanced to the quarterfinals in its first of two consecutive championship bracket berths.