COLLEGE STATION — Cinco Ranch was determined to have a bounce back day after a disappointing day one at the State 7-on-7 Tournament.

The Cougars went 0-3 in pool play, dropping to the consolation bracket on Saturday, but Cinco Ranch wasn’t deterred and wanted to show that they have one of the best teams in the state.

The Cougars bounced back in a big way, going 4-1 on Saturday and advancing all the way to the consolation bracket final to put a strong end to the team’s summer season.

“It just shows our character and the way we will fight back from anything,” said senior quarterback Gavin Rutherford. “We’re not going to give up just because we had a bad day. We went 0-3 yesterday, but we can’t let that define us. So even though we didn’t do our job the first day, we came out and made sure that we fixed our mistakes and got better today.”

Cinco started the day with a close game against San Benito, winning 25-22 and that win seemed to rejuvenate the team, as they strolled past North Crowley 25-8 before beating Plano 35-13 and beating Coppell 28-26, to reach the final.

“Yesterday was just a complete off day and we knew that,” said senior receiver Seth Salverino. “We’ve been winning games all summer, we just had a bad day at the worst time we could have. But because of that we knew that we needed to show what we could do today. So it was big for us to come out and win four in a row.”

The Cougars run came to an end in the final, as they lost 26-20 to Frisco Wakeland. But the team knows that they still put up a great performance on the day.

“This whole thing really is about building that chemistry and getting better as a team,” Rutherford said. “There’s no better way to do that than by overcoming adversity. Offensively and defensively we stepped it up a notch today from where we were and we spent time yesterday bonding and building that chemistry too. That’s what the offseason is about is just coming together and getting ready for next year.

Rutherford will lead a high powered offense that includes targets like Salverino and Noah Abboud as well as other key players such as Fischer Reed. While the summer helps them with that chemistry, 7-on-7 also helps with the conditioning of the team, especially on a morning like Saturday where Cinco played five games over a four hour period in over 90 degree heat.

“It builds you into such better condition,” Rutherford said. “It feels like its 100 degrees right now and has felt like that all day, but that’s why we need it. All of us have to get into better shape before the season and this helps us do that. It really helps build up that conditioning and your character because you have to keep pushing.”

Cinco will get an early start to the season since the Cougars didn’t participate in spring practice and all of the players cant wait to get out there come August.

“It’s going to be great,” Salverino said. “Getting that extra scrimmage, being back out there. We just have to be smart and stay healthy until then, and then go full speed once we get back out on the field.”