HITCHCOCK — Morris Tuck and the Hitchcock Bulldogs are hoping the third time is the charm.
For the third straight season, the Bulldogs have qualified for the Division II 7-on-7 state football tournament in College Station. The event begins with pool play at 1 p.m. today at the Penberthy Intramural Fields.
Tuck, the senior third-year starting quarterback for Hitchcock, said the team has high hopes after qualifying in its first attempt this summer.
“This never gets old, I can tell you that,” Tuck said. “I know a lot of people thought it would be a huge challenge for us to return seeing as we had a lot of receivers to replace. But we qualified in our first tournament, so it was pretty low stress compared to previous years.”
In 2007, Hitchcock won its pool and made it to the round of 16 in the championship bracket. Last year, the Bulldogs once again won their pool but weren’t able to win their first bracket game.
Tuck said this year the team has prepared itself for a deep tournament run.
“Last year I think we got caught not being in the best shape as a team,” Tuck said. “That came from not being in the heat enough. This year, we practiced more often in the hit. We’ve worked harder for 7-on-7 than any of the previous teams I’ve been on here. That will help us out a lot.”
A scheduling change also could play in the Bulldogs’ favor, Tuck said. Normally, the first round of bracket play would occur on the first day of the event following pool play. This year, however, bracket play won’t begin until Friday.
“I think that suits us,” Tuck said. “The last two years, we’ve done really well in pool play, but it didn’t transfer into the elimination bracket. Now, we’ll have pool play, then we can clear our minds for the second day.”
Hitchcock will play Bandera, Celina and West in pool play today. Celina won the event in 2007.
Hitchcock advances to the championship bracket by finishing in the top two in their pool. A bottom two finish puts it in the consolation bracket.
The championship game will be played in Kyle Field.
