Fayetteville wins Shootout of the South 7-on-7

Nathan Grady spent a good part of the Shootout of the South 7-on-7 Tournament re-acclimating himself to football. The senior defensive back didn’t play for the Bulldogs the past two seasons, but his instincts were keen Saturday on the final play of Fayetteville’s 49-48 championship game win against Arlington (Texas) Bowie.

Grady deflected a two-point conversion pass with no time left to seal the win and earn the Most Outstanding Defensive Player award.

“I didn’t think I was playing that great,” Grady said. “I’d been picking up that the quarterback had been staring at his receivers a little bit. I was just playing my zone, and when he went back and threw I broke on the ball and got it. As soon as he threw it, I knew I was going to get a hand on it.”

Junior Bulldogs quarterback Brandon Allen completed 20 of 24 passes for seven touchdowns with no interceptions. Allen hasn’t thrown a pick in two straight tournaments and won his second Top Gun Award given to the best signal caller.

“That was my goal this year — not to throw any interceptions,” Allen said. “Last year I threw a bunch. This year I have been working on cutting those down and making better decisions.”

Fayetteville didn’t lose a game in the 24-team field, and beat a Bowie team with several Division I prospects that ranks in the overall preseason Texas High School Top 20.

 “I’m proud of our kids,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “They believed in themselves, and they played hard. Our motto as ‘One play, one game at a time.’ We know that 7-on-7 is an offensive game, and it is tough on defensives. But, our defense made plays all tournament long. I’m so proud of them. It’s a great win for our program.”

Fayetteville never trailed after falling behind 7-0 after one Bowie possession. The fast and furious shootout featured six ties.

Allen found Michael Heintzman, who had seven catches and three touchdowns, on a 40-yard score on the first play from scrimmage, which put FHS up 35-28 with under seven minutes left.

Bowie countered with a 40-yard strike from quarterback Deric Davis, a Division I dual-threat quarterback recruit, to Langston Williams to tie the game a minute later.

The Bulldogs countered with a five-play drive, which culminated on an 11-yard scoring pass from Allen to Josh Hale. Again, Davis needed just one pass to even the game. Montra Nelson, an Oklahoma State commit and Most Outstanding Receiver recipient, ran under the bomb to knot the score at 42 with 2:20 to play.

On the next play, Allen showed off his arm hitting a Hentzman, who was wide open running down the middle of the field. Heintzman hauled in the pass and sprinted untouched to give the Bulldogs a 49-42 advantage with 1:49 left.

Davis connected on three passes before he finally cut the lead to one on a six-yard pass.

As time ran down, Bowie lined up for the two-point try. Davis rocketed a bullet into the end zone, but Grady stepped in front of it.

“Arlington Bowie is a great team,” Patton said. “You have to tip your hat to them on the call to go for two. That is what champions do. They went for it, and it was two teams at the end that had a chance and we ended up winning this time. I’m so proud of (the team).”

Pine Bluff defeated Greenbrier 30-28 to capture on consolation bracket final. Lake Hamilton won the other consolation bracket with a win against Shreveport (La.) Captain Shreve.