Trinity, ACCS, Delta Charter battle in 7-on-7 contests
Published 12:05 am Thursday, July 2, 2015
NATCHEZ — In a 7-on-7 competition featuring Trinity Episcopal Day School, Adams County Christian School and Delta Charter School, Kevontaye Caston could do no wrong.
It was simply “one of those days” for Trinity junior quarterback who threw four touchdowns in Trinity’s victories against Delta Charter and ACCS in the first two games of the morning exhibition. He followed that performance up with a Hail Mary heave on the last play of the game against Delta Charter — which was caught by his brother Jakarius to give Trinity a 20-14 win.
“I felt good today,” said Caston, acknowledging he was in the zone. “Everybody ran their routes right, and we just all came together.”
Trinity head coach Zach Rogel was pleased to see his quarterback continue to improve after winning the starting job a month before the 2014 season.
“If you combine the teaching he’s been getting with live looks on 7-on-7, you’re seeing that Kevontaye is becoming a true quarterback this summer,” Rogel said.
Trinity 12, Delta Charter 8
Delta Charter quarterback Trey Poole threw two early interceptions — one to Kevontaye Caston and the other to Jakarius Caston — to start the day. Each interception accounted for three points and the ball, giving Trinity an early 6-0 lead.
Following a Caston brother hookup for a touchdown and failed two-point conversion, Trinity took a 12-0 lead. The Storm didn’t tuck their tails between their legs, though. Poole led a long drive down the field that was capped off with a touchdown to Lee Lancaster.
It was too little too late, however, as the 25-minute running clock timed out on the Storm.
ACCS 11, Delta Charter 9
The Rebels were clicking offensively despite missing starters Chisum Mardis and Sam Butler.
At the helm of the Rebels offense, Carlos Woods was nickel and diming his way down the field before connecting with Jordan Wells for a quick score. A two-point conversion pass to Shaverick Williams gave ACCS an 8-0 lead.
Delta Charter’s Poole answered with an impressive drive, himself, dialing up Dawson Woodruff’s number time and time again. Woodruff made a one-handed grab before securing a touchdown catch from Poole to make the game 8-6.
“He’s a kid that’s just fun to be around,” Taylor said. “He plays with a free spirit, and it’s almost speechless when he makes catches like that.”
On the ensuing drive, Woods was picked off by Storm defender Kendrick Robinson, giving Delta Charter a 9-8 lead.
With the clock expiring, Poole dropped back to pass before ACCS linebacker Chris Smotherman undercut a route and secured an interception, giving ACCS an 11-9 win.
King was not pleased with his team’s focus during the competitions, and furthermore, isn’t a big believer in 7-on-7 competitions.
“I don’t like these 7-on-7 competitions for anything other than conditioning,” King said. “The reason why I don’t like this thing is there isn’t four gorillas rushing you. Obviously our two leaders are Chisum (Mardis) and Sam (Butler), and we were missing their leadership. It was fun, though. This is good camaraderie. It was the first time I got to meet Coach Taylor.”
Trinity 22, ACCS 12
Back-to-back 50-yard strikes opened a thrilling encounter between Trinityand ACCS skill players. Kevontaye connected with Jakarius before Woods found George Scott.
With the game tied at 6, Kevontaye found a breaking Cortez Adams down the field before connecting with David Jackson on a two-point conversion to make the game 14-6.
Woods and ACCS answered with a touchdown to a streaking Williams but failed to convert the two-point conversion, trailing Trinity 14-12.
Kevontaye capped off a long drive of short and medium passes with a touchdown pass to Demond Fleming before finding Jackson again to give Trinity a 22-12 win.
Trinity 20, Delta Charter 14
Kevontaye found Cade Wells on a quick strike for the first score of the contest before Poole found Woodruff and Lancaster to give the Storm an 8-6 lead.
Caston answered with a touchdown strike to C.J. Chatman to give Trinity a 14-8 lead, but an ensuing touchdown by Woodruff tied the game at 14.
With time for one play left, Kevontaye heaved a pass from 50 yards and found a streaking Jakarius for the game-winning touchdown.
Taylor couldn’t help but laugh, thinking it just wasn’t his day.
“It was good running around with two established programs,” Taylor said. “Any time we can compete with them, it’s good.”
ACCS 14, Delta Charter 0
The Rebels defense was stingy with points, holding Delta Charter scoreless in the following contest.
Woods found Scott and M.J. Thornburg for touchdowns, while Delta Charter struggled repeatedly to gain positive yardage.
ACCS 14, Trinity 12
A floater from Woods to Williams gave ACCS a quick 6-0 lead before a wide open Trey Russell reeled in a pass from Kevontaye to tie the game.
Woods found Cole Melton and Scott on a two-point conversion to give his team a 14-6 lead before Rogel put in his junior varsity team with Wells moving to quarterback.
With the time running low, Wells found Sam Mosby in the end zone, and as time expired, Rogel elected to not go for two points.
“I wanted to end the day on a high note,” Rogel said.