Hanson Leads New Lexington to Unbeaten 7-on-7 Tournament

WESTERVILLE, OH

Head coach Kevin Board and New Lexington perhaps traveled the farthest for the “Ball Hawks” 7-on-7 tournament, and they may have even been the smallest school participating. But they had a lot to prove right away against every one of their opponents. The Panthers were among the 12 schools and the 14 teams competing in the event out at Westerville Central High School.

Footballs were flying everywhere you look with some very interested spectators looking on.

“It was a lot different when I was coming up in high school. The rules were a lot more strict. Thank G-d that OHSAA has made the right decision for these kids to be able to be out here and compete earlier and earlier to get ready for their, you know, their fall seasons” said ex-Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones.

The Panthers had a lot to prove in the tournament and plenty to gain from playing teams that they never would have otherwise.

New Lexington head coach Kevin Board said “It’s nice to come up and see some different teams that we don’t typically see. You know, they’re competing well, that’s, that’s all we do this for, you know, these are reps that we can’t get at practice. You know, we’re seeing other guys’ “ones.” Other guys’, you know, juniors and seniors versus ours. So it’s good to get the competition. and also just the reps that we can’t replicate in practice.”

The competition was certainly there, as Coach Board wanted to make sure his team was ready for what may come this fall.

He added “The competition, I suppose, is the biggest thing. You know, we, we’ve only had a week’s worth of practice. you know, so we’re working on two offensive days, two defensive days. We host 7-on-7s every week. But, you know, the last two years, the first round the playoffs, we faced a team up towards Columbus. So we wanted to get some different teams that we might see that some of our region teams are up here, so I thought it’d be a good chance to compete against some of those teams we might see later in the season.”

“New Lex” stormed through group play with wins over Marion Franklin, Bishop Ready and Hilliard Darby in the morning before advancing to the bracket action in the afternoon.

“I mean, I’m feeling great about this. I mean, so far we started 3-0. We came here for better competition than what we’re seeing in New Lex and I think we’re seeing that.” said senior wide receiver and defensive back Bentley Hanson.

Led by senior Bentley Hanson, who made play after play, both on offense and defense, helping lead New Lexington have a tremendous day out on the field. Three more wins in the afternoon, including a 21-0 shutout over Bradley in the final clinched a perfect 6-0 day for the champion Panthers. If nothing else, Coach Board wanted this team to take away one thing from this tournament more than anything.

“Just compete. Loving to compete. Refusing to lose and playing for each other and being excited for those big moments. You know, it’s, you score a touchdown. That’s a great thing. You knock a pass down on fourth down. That’s a great thing. So being able to create those moments, with momentum and excitement to, really just celebrate those and celebrate our teammates and like you said, just competition is the biggest piece.”

But for now, a tremendous day in 7-on-7 shows how bright the future is over at New Lexington, perhaps with more of this to come in the 2024 season.