GOING LONG – Blake McDonald and Boyd will play in the state 7-on-7 tournament Thursday. Messenger photo by Joe Duty

A late invitation to the state 7-on-7 tournament in College Station was welcomed this week by the Boyd Yellowjackets.

Boyd accepted the opportunity to play in the state championships for a third straight year after another qualifier pulled out of the 64-team Division II field.

“Everybody was on board with going,” said Boyd coach Brandon Hopkins. “Hopefully we’ll go down and make a good showing.”

Boyd will play three games Thursday at 2, 4, and 6 p.m. against Comanche, La Villa and Navasota in Pool 0. The Yellowjackets will have at least one tilt Friday in either the consolation or championship brackets.

Senior Blake McDonald, who is taking over at quarterback for the Yellowjackets, is glad to have the opportunity to play at state. He played wide receiver last year for the Boyd squad that was led by Jared Cate.

“It’s a surprise, but I’m glad we got in,” McDonald said. “I’m looking forward to going down, playing hard and seeing if maybe we can win it all.”

The Yellowjackets came a game short of qualifying for the tournament June 23 when they fell to Muenster in the semifinals of the qualifier they hosted.

The state tournament is held three weeks before the start of two-a-days Aug. 6. McDonald said it will help the team prepare for the start of the season.

“It’ll be a good experience going down there and playing with the top teams,” he said.

Hopkins said the experience will be helpful for the first-year starting quarterback and a young group of receivers. The Yellowjackets’ top two receivers – Abe Moreno and Chasen Starnes – graduated. McDonald was third on the team in receptions with 38 for 515 yards and four touchdowns.

“The more reps we can get the better off we’ll be,” Hopkins said. “This is four extra games and a couple of extra days to work on our stuff. It’ll be good experience.”