FLOWERY BRANCH — The Battle at the Branch 7-on-7 football tournament, scheduled for Friday at Flowery Branch High, will have as star-studded a field as you will find during the summer competitions.
Class AAAAAAA semifinalist Mill Creek leads a field that also has the top three teams from Region 8-AAAAAA -- Dacula, Lanier, and Gainesville -- and features nine playoff teams from last season, including AAAAAAA Archer, St. Pius, Oconee County, Grady, and Union County.
Event coordinator and new Flowery Branch coach Ben Hall said they are expecting some tough competition, and plenty of learning opportunities.
“This is always a good field of teams,” said Hall, who has organized the annual event with virtually the same group each of the past four or five years going back to his days as the Jefferson coach.
“Every coach handles these 7-on-7 in different ways. I think most of us just look for the competition and improvement. You always want to win but I don’t know if that’s the overall main focus.”
For Hall and the Falcons, it’s the first live-action competition against other teams since he moved over from Jefferson to take over the Falcons. It also will be the first live-action assessment for Hall and his staff of their new charges, which he will split into two teams for the tournament.
“The transition has been pretty smooth. We’re going to use this first tournament as a learning experience for all of us. I’m sure there will be some growing pains but that’s why we do these,” Hall said.
Hall said they will use the event to assess four quarterbacks, including senior Nick Lance, the Falcons’ 2016 starter.
“Nick has the experience and we expect him to hopefully take the wheel and win the job. But we’re looking at several guys, all the way down to a freshman,” Hall said.
The field should be a competitive one. Gainesville and Lanier both showed some positives in last week’s 7-on-7 tournament in Jefferson despite both losing in the opening round of single-elimination. The Red Elephants fell in a tight game to eventual tournament champ and defending Class AAAAAAA state champion Grayson.
Habersham Central also will be at Flowery Branch and is looking for improvement from last year’s breakout season (5-5) and first non-losing campaign since 2011.
Union County, a playoff team in Class AA in 2016, also will battle at The Branch.
"There are some good programs here but I don't know if there is a favorite," Hall said. "Again, coaches look at these competitions in different ways. But I expect good competition in every game."
Action starts at 9 a.m. with the single-elimination rounds beginning at 2:30 p.m.
