Tompkins was shorthanded at this week's state 7-on-7 tournament. But the Falcons never looked at that as an excuse.

For Tompkins, it was an opportunity. An opportunity for young players to step up, to compete at the highest level and to continue to mesh throughout this offseason.

The Falcons were in what was likely the hardest pool in the entire state tournament on Friday but had an 0-3 record, battling but being unable to come away with wins against two of the best teams in the state in Lake Travis and DeSoto. But that didn’t sway Tompkins in the slightest and the team came out refreshed and positive on Saturday in the Consolation Bracket.

“We didn’t get too down on ourselves because we knew that those guys were missing and this was valuable to get other people experience,” said senior safety Josh Davis. “This program is all about picking each other up and that’s what we did. We came out and lifted each other, complimented each other and got ready to compete.”

The Falcons came out in the first round of the consolation bracket and dominated Lucas Lovejoy. Lovejoy took the lead first, but Tompkins came back to tie it up before taking a 21-13 lead at the half. The Falcons scored 19 more points in the second half while limiting Lovejoy to just one touchdown in the second half to take a 40-19 win. 

“The guys just picked everyone up and we had so much energy going into today,” said sophomore quarterback JP Vaclavik, who threw for seven touchdowns in the win over Lovejoy and eight in total on Saturday. Everyone just was a hype man and we all were ready and picked it up, it was a lot of fun.”

Tompkins took on a strong Berkner team in the second round of the consolation bracket and were unable to overcome them, falling 25-7. Tompkins scored first and got out to a hot start, but the offense wasn’t able to keep things going in the second half. But for the Falcons the important thing was the reps against quality opposition. 

“That’s what you want, playing the best is fun and it gets your guys to raise their level,” said Tompkins head coach Todd McVey. “I told these guys the only thing you can focus on is yourself and they started doing that and playing well. Young guys are learning the process and figuring out how to do their jobs and this is a big part of that. It was great to get them out here and see them compete this weekend.”

And most importantly, Tompkins got contributions up and down the depth chart. From sophomores like Vaclavik and Blake Jenkins to seniors like Davis who are helping the younger players get things down and all of that will help them once it gets to the fall.

“That’s the good thing about this tournament, even with some guys out we got to see some of these other guys and they stepped up, that was the whole idea for us,” McVey said. “There were some wide eyes at first, but they learned that we can only control ourselves, developing that is big. Once we started focusing on that you could see how well we played. We always say the event plus the response equals the outcome and they really focused on that and did a good job responding. I’m proud of that.”

Cinco Ranch falls in first round of Consolation Bracket

Cinco Ranch was unable to make a run in the Consolation Bracket of the Division I State 7-on-7 Tournament, coming up against a tough PSJA team in the first round and falling 26-20 in a very close game. The Cougars end the tournament with a record of 1-3 after also narrowly missing out on the Championship Bracket.