INDIANAPOLIS — The Horizon Hawks were one of 32 teams nationwide to earn a trip to Indianapolis for the 2012 High School Player Development 7-on-7 National Tournament hosted by the NFL and National Guard. Each NFL market was represented, and the Horizon Hawks earned their trip by winning the 2012 Broncos High School 7-on-7 regional tournament in June.
Horizon’s 7-on-7 journey started at All City Stadium at Denver South High School in the second annual Broncos High School 7-on-7 Tournament. The Hawks went 3-0 in pool play and earned a spot in championship Saturday held at the Broncos Training Facility on June 23. Horizon went 4-0 at Dove Valley defeating Eaglecrest, Montbello, Fairview and then Fossil Ridge in the tournament final.
The Hawks, led by Head Coach Frank Ybarra and Offensive Coordinator Gregg Sumey, arrived in Indianapolis on Thursday, July 12 for orientation where each player received cleats, Broncos-branded home and away jerseys, shorts, sweatshirts and a backpack – all provided by NIKE.
“We weren’t sure what to expect going into the tournament but I expected us to be competitive in every game we played,” Ybarra said. “I wanted to show all the teams from around the country that we belonged.”
Play began on Friday, July 13 at the Colts’ Training Facility where each team played five games of pool play. The Hawks were matched up against the AFC West and NFC West and opened up against the Kansas City Chiefs. In a tight game throughout, the Hawks defense landed a second-half interception to help propel them to an opening game victory over Kansas City, 31-28.
The Hawks continued to build momentum throughout the morning by defeating San Diego 34-24 and Oakland 31-14. 3-0 against the AFC West, Horizon’s next two opponents would come from the NFC West. The Hawks jumped all over Seattle winning 34-0, but was clipped by Arizona in the final seconds 27-24 to conclude day one.
Later that evening, all 32 teams took a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, where players got to see the home team’s locker room and take a walk on the playing surface. Players also had the chance to visit the NCAA Hall of Champions located in downtown Indianapolis.
The second day of play included the final two games of pool play followed by a single-elimination tournament. The Hawks were edged out by St. Louis on a last-second touchdown to start the day but quickly bounced back against San Francisco winning 28-24.
5-2 in pool play, Horizon would be seeded number one in the AFC West and would have to win two more games within the division to make the final eight. The Hawks opened elimination play against San Diego where they would get a last-second interception in the end zone to secure the win over the Chargers. The Raiders also advanced to play Horizon in the round of 16, but the Hawks controlled the game from the start and defeated Oakland 28-10.
In the round of eight, Horizon would be matched up against the AFC North winner, Cincinnati. The Hawks jumped out to an early 17-7 lead but a successful Hail Mary pass before the half cut the lead to 17-14. The Hawks battled in the second half but would fall to the Bengals 28-24.
“We performed better than I expected when it was all said and done,” Ybarra said. “Our players competed against some talented teams and our kids showed up and did their jobs.”
Quarterback Auston Stackhouse led the Hawks offense and kept opposing defensives off balance with his strong arm and accuracy. Wide receivers Dustin Rivas, Steve Sumey, Greg Gonzales and Jordan Gravage were popular targets throughout the tournament each making multiple touchdown catches in the high scoring offensive showcase.
Defensive backs Chad Reffel, Jordan Iacovetta and Dante Chand helped anchor the Hawks defensive backfield with Brandon Halperin, Gunnar Campbell, Chad David and Chance Callahan patrolling the middle of the field at the linebacker positions.
Throughout the tournament, the Hawks would win seven of ten games and went 5-0 within the AFC West division. Horizon was one of four actual high school teams to make the final eight, the other four teams being made up of all stars from their respective areas.
“This was a great experience for our team and hopefully our players understand the level of competition that exists throughout the country,” Ybarra said. “The 12 kids who were here with us this weekend can now take this experience back to help lead the 50 other players on our roster into the upcoming season.”
Congratulations to Horizon High School for a great showing at the 2012 HSPD 7-on-7 National Tournament. They represented their high school, Colorado and the Denver Broncos with class, heart and an outstanding competitive spirit. Best of luck in 2012.
Click here to view a photo gallery of the Hawks’ games in Indianapolis.
Tags: 7-on-7 Tournament
BRONCOS 2012!!
I wanted Hillman and Os to sign already!!! Why do we have to wait forever?
Me too Cat!
it’s just the FO’s way of keeping us on our toes cat…………lol
Nice job Kod! Now you guys have to come up with a bands name and go out and perform. LOL
Suuure! I mean come on! RGIII signed already
Os is back in Denver at least. Hope it happens today or tomorrow.
You still in Tennessee?
OC–KK
I am getting great feedback comming in slowly here a FTR productions. You guys could go virial on you tube. I emplore all of Broncos Country to get on your tweets,twitters,facebooks,linkedins,yahoos,gmails,msns,googles,and .nets and spread the New Hit Single Strong is the Neck. SPREAD THE WORD! This has been the best off season in years due to this kind of thing comming together!!
ALL HAIL THE NECK
ILMSDB
GO BRONCOS
FTR
Hey y’all. We’re getting closer to camp, I can’t wait! For anyone who hasn’t seen this yet, check it out. I think this guy is going to make real difference with how our guys perform and finish this year.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/multimedia/videos/Making-Every-Rep-Count/904b1161-9146-4fb7-bb60-488f06327606
I emailed the link to the sports desk at the post………..hopefully someone checks it out and actually spreads it around! lol
I was trying to write a song about the hated faders but it had to many words starting with F! LOL
just me!
FTR
Thats really cool Kod! Get the song out on the airwaves! HaHa!!
LOL at FTR!!
I am home, strand! I should be doing something productive…
Kod I sent it to the Broncos twitter account and Lindsay and Jessie James. And I see there are quite a few views already!
Home sweet home!
One more week and its Broncos 24/7. YESSSSSS!!
This blog will be rockin full throttle very soon.
awesome cat! yeah strand………..there’ll be a lot more posts and a lot more blogs goin on………CAN’T WAIT! We’ve all suffered long enough! lol
We`re in this togther, sink or swim. LOL
Espn is covering 8 Broncos training camp days!!! Tom Jackson will be reporting for us! It’s about to get exciting up in here!
I prefer swimming. LOL
Here’s the link again……….just incase the night shift missed it earlier…………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Bv9UwArOU&feature=plcp
STRONG IS THE NECK!
I`m already excited. BRONCOS 2012!
Dang it! Even Luck signs before our boys! Come on man!!!!!!!
Strand we’re not swimming! We are freaking scuba diving!!!!!
Luck and RG3`s contract sets the perimeters for the rest of the contracts really. Guide lines so to speak.
Hilarious!
I know I know but seriously!!!!! LOL I am impatient.
Strand we have all the gear to dive deep in the playoffs
Cat, I`ve gotta share this with you, you`ll get a kick outta this. Just a few hours before we got to go home from the evacuation, my mother said to her friends that my parents were staying with. She said, I want to go back home. Now I`m going to close my eyes and tap my heals 3 times. I about lost it. Talk about deja vu. LOL
I`m going in. DIVER DOWN!!
Nice song kod.
I’m not too concerned with either Hillman or Osweiler signing to be honest. My main concern is getting Dumervil cleared of all charges, and if that happens, Steinberg might just have to be considered the early favorite for MVP….
OT, the could be a long drawn out process in the courts. It most like will be.
And the hits keep on coming… Goodell is gonna blow a gasket…..
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82aabf36/article/robert-quinn-st-louis-rams-charged-with-dwi-?module=HP11_headline_stack
Strand that is awesome! I want a #tapyourcleats3times t-shirt! I can’t watch the Wizard of Oz without laughing now!!!
Agreed strand. I just want the charges to be cleared. I can live with a few game suspension, but not jail time. Wolfe’s ability to play DE is looking better and better by the minute.
Put a patent on it Ticat06. Every American loves the Wizard of Oz.
I hope the charges are dropped. In some states even if the victim wants to drop the charges, the state sometimes takes over the case depending on the crime really. I don`t see this happening here though.
Strand the whole case doesn’t make sense. They should drop it because the stories don’t measure up. Harvey is having a field day!
Agreed Ticat06!
The next song might just have to be about Harvey, if he’s able to wiggle us out of this…
OT I agree with you!
Tap your clears three times
HARVEY STEINBURG IS BRINGING YOU HOME! LoL
Take me back to DENVER! HaHaHaHAHa!!
OK OK OK
I just sent OC and KKs, Strong is the Neck song link to two of my engineer friends at LG in Korea. Both I have converted to Bronco Fans. So FTR productions went international. When they wake in the mornig tonight I can not wait for thier response. If it’s funny (They do not speak english very well and type it worse) I will let you guys know.
I think Doom will hopefully get out of this mess with just a 2 game penalty! We will just have to wait and see. I dont think Doom is anything like a Pac-Man!
ILMSDB
FTR
strands
Its all most here!!! Tic-Tock
FTR
Nah, this is just a hicup by Doom. he`ll learn from this. Doom is no fool.
ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!
How you doing FTR?
I am doing well. Thanks. Working from home for a company out of MD. Gives me more time to be here on the blog when I should be working. But I can not resist with the season almost here. How are you strands!!
FTR
I`m doing great bro. Life is grand!
You been up fishing!!
FTR