COLLEGE STATION — Both Jordan and Cinco Ranch took hard lessons on day one of the Division I state 7-on-7 tournament.

The Warriors and Cougars combined to go 1-5 in the state tournament’s pool play, as both teams weren’t able to find enough success on offense to carry their struggling defenses into the win column.

Cinco Ranch, which was considered a favorite to make noise in the winners bracket on Saturday, took lessons from their three losses to Harker Heights, Hebron and Wichita Falls Rider.

“Today kind of humbled us,” said Cinco Ranch senior linebacker Braden Williams. “We have to work ten times harder than we were before and this taught us that. We thought we were going to come out here and lay everyone out and I think maybe we came in a bit too confident. But that’s fixable. We are going to fix this and come out and treat everyone the exact same and give them our best.

All three games came down to the wire and were one possession games, with Cinco just coming up short. The Cougars hope to take lessons from that and they know that even though these games ultimately don’t end up in the win or loss column in the fall, they can show what the team needs to work on.

“It’s just a way to overcome adversity,” said senior Cinco Ranch receiver Noah Abboud. “Going through these things, we know what we need to fix, and we learn about ourselves. The good thing is we can critique it and look at how we can get better when we go through these losses. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just a way we can evaluate ourselves and any time you can do that it’s a good thing.”

Jordan dropped its first two games of the day, before bouncing back with a 25-12 win over Austin LBJ in the Warriors third game of the day to go 1-2 in pool play.

Like Cinco, the Warriors two losses were both one score games, and playing in those tight environments will do nothing but help Jordan as it prepares for the jump to 6A.

“It’s a winning culture that we are trying to build and you have to go through games like that if you want to start winning,” said Jordan receiver Zechariah Sample. “I’m trying to be part of that and that’s why I came here was because I wanted to try and set that foundation for a new school. We know we’re underdogs but we embrace that.”

The Warriors have embraced the grind to prepare for the season and are taking on any challenge they can, including qualifying for the state tournament. And they know any time they get playing against 6A competition is going to be huge for the players.

“It’s all about getting that experience and continuing to get better and prepared,” said senior Jordan receiver Nathan Salz. “At the end of the day it’s a competition and were trying to win, and it was nice to end the day with one, but it’s just all about that team chemistry, having fun and getting better before we get to football season.”

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday morning, with game times TBA.

“For us the biggest thing is to learn for this but then we step on the field tomorrow, just forget about everything and play the way we should be playing,” Abboud said. “It’s all a reset tomorrow, it’s 0-0 and we have everything to play for.”