The Ashville varsity football team kicked off their summer with a 7-on-7 camp that took place at Homer Smiles stadium in Leeds. The Bulldogs finished the day with a 1-3 record, but were competitive in every game which was exactly what first year head coach Trey Pike had wanted from his team. "The biggest thing I wanted to do was see us compete. It was the first day after the break [from workouts], and I thought we looked good in places; we have to improve in other places," Pike said.
Ashville opened the day with a matchup against Fultondale. A slow start resulted in Fultondale taking an early lead and never looking back. The Bulldogs eventually punched one in for a touchdown late in the game, but fell 36-6.
The second game was an all out defensive battle against Leeds. The Green Wave knocked on the door several times, but a stout defensive effort kept them scoreless. The game was tied at zero until late in the fourth quarter. That was when Ashville QB Landon Cornutt hit WR Nathan Phillips for the game winning touchdown as time expired. The final score was 6-0.
The third game of the day was another nail-biter when the Bulldogs took on Springville. The Tigers struck first and opted to take the PAT to go up 7-0. Ashville answered right back with a touchdown of their own, but failed on the 2-point conversion to make the score 7-6. Both defenses held strong throughout the rest of the game, and Ashville fell by a mere point.
The final game against Ohatchee came down to the wire as well. The Bulldogs forced a turnover on downs with under a minute left on the clock. After two plays, time was about to expire. QB Landon Cornutt went deep to WR Nathan Phillips on a "Hail Mary" attempt, and the ball sailed off of the fingertips of Phillips; the Bulldogs fell 12-6.
When asked about improvements that needed to be made before fall camp Coach Pike said, "Right now, we've got to get better conditioned. We're just not there yet, but we will be. We also have to learn the fundamentals of the game; right now, we're just on the basic stuff so we have to get better."
All of the games from the camp are available to watch on our Facebook page.