It’s a busy month for Cavaliers

Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Callaway Cavaliers participated in the Auburn seven-on-seven competition last weekend. Contributed photo

Callaway’s offensive lineman participated in the Mike Hodges camp in Cochran earlier this month. Contributed photo

The Callaway Cavaliers continued their tour of the SEC last weekend.

Earlier this month, Callaway participated in a seven-on-seven passing tournament at the University of Georgia.

A few weeks later, Callaway’s players were at a different SEC school.

Callaway was one of more than 50 teams competing in a seven-on-seven tournament hosted by Auburn University.

“We got to throw against some great competition,” Callaway head coach Pete Wiggins said.

The teams Callaway threw against were Edgewood Academy (Ala.), Mays, Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy, Wenonah (Ala.), Colquitt County, Long Beach (Miss.) and Westside (S.C.).

“It was a great seven-on-seven,” Wiggins said. “The tempo of the camp was high. There were just so many good teams there. It was a good day for us. Our kids got better from it.”

The Auburn tournament has become a regular stop for the Cavaliers under Wiggins, who is heading into his 11th season as Callaway’s head coach.

“We try to go to the Auburn 7-on-7 every year,” Wiggins said. “It’s always very competitive, and their coaches do a great job. We feel like we get better from it.”

On June 5, Callaway was in Athens for a 7-on-7 competition on the Georgia campus.

At the elite seven-on-sevens at places like Georgia and Auburn, Callaway offensive coordinator Matt Napier said “you get to put the kids in front of those (college) coaches, and they get to see them first-hand competing. You go against the top teams in the country.”

At the Georgia competition, Callaway wide receiver Braylon Sanders was one of the top performers, with he and quarterback Dylan Johnson showing a lot of chemistry.

Sanders, who’ll be a junior this season, is becoming a popular man on the recruiting circuit, and he has already received an offer from Georgia.

The Auburn and Georgia seven-on-seven competitions were part of a busy June for Callaway’s players.

The first week of June, a dozen Callaway players participated in the Mike Hodges quarterback and wide receiver camp on the campus of Middle Georgia College in Cochran.

Callaway’s offensive linemen were also in Cochran earlier this month for the Mike Hodges lineman camp.

That’s another camp Callaway has been participating in for years, and Wiggins said it’s of tremendous value for his team.

“We took 13 offensive linemen to the Mike Hodges offensive line camp,” Wiggins said. “There were 500 kids there from schools all over Georgia. And it’s hot, and it’s a lot of work, and the coaches that work the camp really push the kids. And I feel like it’s the best camp that we go to. Coach Hodges, he does such a great job running the camp, and has great expectations from those working it, and from the kids. It’s just a great opportunity for us to get better, and we believe in it.”

Wiggins added that “we’ve had some kids go to some individual things, but those are the four team camps that we went to.”

In addition to the camps and seven-on-sevens, Callaway’s players have had daily workouts at the school.

“It’s been a good summer to this point,” Wiggins said. “I’m proud of the kids, and proud of the work ethic.”

Next week is the Georgia High School Association-mandated dead week, meaning sports teams in the state aren’t allowed to hold organized activities.

The Cavaliers will be back at it the following week, and preseason practice will officially get under way in late July.

Callaway will kick off a new season on Aug. 21 against LaGrange.

Callaway went 7-5 a year ago and reached the second round of the state playoffs where it lost to Washington County.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports