Green Wave football awakens from dead period

MT. JULIET Gallatin High’s football team is one of the busier squads in the first week of football practice.

Gallatin High senior wide receiver Matthew Knight makes a catch in the end zone against Fort Campbell (Ky.) during Thursday’s 7-on-7 passing tournament at Mt. Juliet Christian Academy.

In the initial four days following the end of the two-week Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) dead period, the Green Wave have traveled for two 7-on-7 competitions, and are slated to host their own event on Saturday.

“Coming off the dead period, you want to get together,” Gallatin head coach Mark Williams said. “The good thing about this is it gives us an opportunity to compete as a group.”

Despite being more of a run-oriented team, Gallatin still aims to get valuable work in prior to full-pad practices, which are slated to begin July 25.

“Even though it’s 7-on-7 and it doesn’t really matter, it gives us an opportunity to get better in our passing game,” Williams said. “It lets us get better at some of the little things that we do.”

At Mt. Juliet Christian Academy’s 7-on-7 tournament on Thursday, Gallatin went 3-1 in its first four games before thunderstorms moved into the area and put a premature end to the day’s schedule.

The Green Wave had a quick turnaround from Wednesday’s trip to Smyrna, where Gallatin went 4-1-1 in a six-game session.

“We left Smyrna about 9:00 (Wednesday) night,” Williams said. “We got home around 10, and it was an early start (at Mt. Juliet Christian) today.”

Gallatin is searching for more balance in an offense sure to feature plenty of carries from senior tailback Jordan Mason. In order to achieve that, whoever emerges from the quarterback battle – senior Wyatt Hayes or junior Collin Minor – will have to help take some pressure off of Mason. Outside targets – such as seniors Dezmond Chambers and Matthew Knight, among others – will be called upon to assist in keeping defenses honest.

“That’s one of our big things coming all the way from spring this year,” Williams said. “We want to build depth and give ourselves an opportunity to give some guys rest, so they can be healthier and more active. It’s an opportunity for us to be able to play four quarters at full speed.”

Saturday’s 7-on-7 brings six other teams to Gallatin – Blackman, Macon County, Mt. Juliet, Smyrna, White County and York Institute.

Instead of thinking of it as a ‘passing tournament,’ Williams is instead choosing to look at as what it needs to be – practice.

“It’s a different animal,” Williams said. “We kind of temper ourselves when we come here, and we understand that it’s just a work day and it’s something that we do to better ourselves.”

Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.