ARLINGTON — The 2023 Cougars Championship Passing Tournament and Lineman Challenge will be back in the fold on Saturday at Lakewood High School.
The 15th annual 7-on-7 event will feature 18 high school football squads from around the state, with several local schools competing.
The tournament starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with round-robin style pool play, followed by a 16-team seeded playoff bracket, which begins at 2:30 p.m.. The Lineman Challenge is set to kick off at 10 a.m..
Each team has three games slated in the round-robin pool, with the championship tilt scheduled for 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Tournament director Dan Teeter, who recently retired as Lakewood’s football coach after 17 seasons, will still be leading the event.
“It’s kind of a culmination of all the summer work and just a few weeks before fall ball kicks off and real practices begins,” Teeter said. “It’s always been a great way to end the summer and let them compete right before they get into the real season.”
Local Snohomish County schools Jackson, Lake Stevens, Stanwood, Darrington, Cedarcrest, Lakewood and late edition Arlington, which replaced Oak Harbor in the bracket this week, will all attend.
Defending state champion Lake Stevens, which has won the passing tournament in back-to-back years, squared off against Kennedy Catholic in 2022, a matchup that ended up serving as a Class 4A state title preview.
With schools from five different classifications, Teeter said one of the goals of the event is to give teams opportunities to compete against schools they wouldn’t normally face in the regular season.
“One of the things we try to do is balance out each of the round-robin brackets,” Teeter said. “So, sometimes smaller schools get a chance to go play 7-on-7 against some of the bigger schools that they hear a lot of press about. They like to do that.”
4A teams Lake Stevens and Bothell have both participated since the tournament’s inaugural year.
At the end of the festivities awards will be handed out to the passing championship and lineman championship team winners, offensive and defensive MVPs from the passing tournament, as well as a lineman MVP.
Tournament rules
Games are played on a 40-yard field, with 17-minute running clock halves. Starting at the 40-yard line, teams have three downs to gain 15 yards for a first down.
Players compete with a helmet and no pads, with a one-hand touch rule to down a ball-carrier.
Quarterbacks are allowed four seconds to throw the ball.
Each touchdown is worth seven points, while teams have the option to risk one point by attempting a PAT from the three-yard line.
Interceptions are worth three points for the defense, with seven points awarded if the interception is returned beyond the 40-yard line.
Lineman Challenge event times
10 a.m.—185-pound Bench Reps
11 a.m.—Tire Toss
Noon—Tire Flip Relay
1 p.m.—6-man Sled Drive
2 p.m.—Tug-of-War
3 p.m.—4×100 Relay
4 p.m.—Lineman awards
Full team list
Anacortes (2A), Arlington (3A), Blaine (1A), Bothell (4A), Cedarcrest (2A), Darrington (2B), Inglemoor (3A), Jackson (4A), Kennedy Catholic (4A), Lake Stevens (4A), Lakewood (2A), North Creek (4A), North Kitsap (2A), Prosser (2A), Renton (2A), Sequim (2A), Stanwood (3A), White River (2A).
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