Are you ready for some football?
The Daily Inter Lake
For those who might think high school football is still more than a month away, let us be the first to correct you.
Eight varsity and five JV football teams are in Kalispell today for the Flathead Brave 7-on-7 Passing Tournament.
Games begin at 9 a.m. and the championship is scheduled for 8 tonight. All games are at Legends Stadium.
The tourney is the brainchild of Flathead head football coach Grady Bennett.
According to Bennett, this is the first time such a tournament has been offered in Montana.
California, Colorado and other states have been conducting them for quite some time, he said.
"They're huge. They get hundreds of teams and they just battle it out. It's a great thing."
Flathead's inaugural will be a bit more modest - eight varsity teams and five JV.
"It'll be quite a bit smaller than I had first hoped," Bennett admitted.
"Several teams were fairly interested in coming, but scheduling (got in the way)," he added.
The teams who will be here include two each from both Flathead and Helena as well as Browning, Whitefish, Libby and Bigfork.
"If we can get it established this year … it can grow and grow every year," Bennett hopes.
Tournament play rules include the following:
-Two 20-minute halves with a running clock. The clock will stop only during the last two minutes of each half, on timeouts and for injury.
-Each team gets two timeouts per game.
-Each possession begins on opponents' 40-yard line.
-Offense must have a center to snap the ball to the QB.
-Each offense gets three downs to get a first down and four downs once inside 20-yard line.
-After a first down, the ball is spotted back at nearest 10-yard line for next set of downs.
-Scoring - touchdowns, six points; conversions, two points, defensive interceptions and fumble recoveries, three points each.
-A tackle is one or two hand touch between the shoulders and the knees. Excessive force will be penalized.
-Defenders may bump a receiver only once and with hands only.
-QB may not run the football.
-Defense may not blitz.
-Offense may not block downfield after a completion.