Piedmont, AL – Junior quarterback Cannon Kyles leads Handley to another Piedmont 7-on-7 title, has a big arm, but doesn’t really know how strong it is
PIEDMONT 7-ON-7 TOURNAMENT
Semifinals
Handley 21, Jacksonville 20
Dora 20, Randolph County 16
Championship
Handley 21, Dora 6
By Al Muskewitz
Uncle Red must have known something.
When the boy who would become Handley’s quarterback was born, the Kyles family wanted to come up with a name both unique and distinguished for their son.
Mom named him Ginobili, after NBA star Manu Ginobili. Uncle Red came up with a name befitting a future quarterback who could throw the football as far as a punter could kick it — Cannon.
“My Uncle Red is just a funny guy; he really named me,” he said.
Cannon Kyles’ namesake was on full display Saturday as the junior quarterback led the Tigers to another Piedmont 7-on-7 passing camp championship.
The Tigers beat Dora in the finals at Piedmont’s Field of Champions 21-6 after sending region rival Jacksonville a message 21-20 in the semis. Kyles was super efficient in the two games, going 11-for-17 (not counting extra points) with six touchdowns in eight possessions. He was 5-for-7 in the championship game.
The Tigers went 7-0 in the tournament. They beat Piedmont (22-14), Randolph County (22-0), B.B. Comer (19-6), Weaver (24-7) and Cedar Bluff (22-6) in pool play.
“Today was fantastic,” Kyles said. “The team came through with some good catches, made some good throws, played good on defense, safeties came through, corners came through. Everybody just played a fantastic day today.”
A year ago, Kyles shared the quarterback job with Ty Fetner, but the two never really “shared” it. The way the season went, one or the other was either sick or injured, leaving the job to the one who was available.
Kyles has the job to himself this year and he knows all the responsibility that comes with it.
“I’ve got to be better for the team,” he said.
Tigers coach Larry Strain has no doubt he can handle it.
“Cannon has tremendous strength as far as arm strength; he can throw it,” Strain said. “He’s really kind of calmed down from last year, making great decisions, making great throws and we’ve got some people who can catch it.”
How big an arm does Kyles have? Whenever Strain is having trouble in kickoff drills he summons his quarterback to heave one downfield to simulate the kick. Sometimes, he throws it straight through the uprights.
When he’s just goofing around he can throw it 60-65 yards in the air, but he says he can throw it farther. He plans to test it out later this year.
“I really don’t know how strong my arm is, really,” he said.
He spread the wealth around Saturday. He threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers in each of the semifinals and finals. He threw two to Jordan West and Jamerqui Lewis, and one each to Koreen Henry and Devontae Higgins.
There was some expectation that Jacksonville would be the Tigers’ title game opponent, but the Golden Eagles played from the second spot in their pool because Dora beat them on a 40-yard last play Hail Mary.
Jacksonville quarterback Jim Ogle was 11-for-18 with three touchdowns against Handley and sent the Tigers their own message for their region opener by throwing for a touchdown and two-point conversion on their final possession even though the Tigers had the game clinched.
“You can tell the energy level was a little more on this game and it’s because we’ve had some great battles over the past couple years and it’ll be the same thing when they come to us for the first region game,” Jacksonville coach Clint Smith said. “It was a hard-fought game and we scored right there at the end to bring to within a point.
“I think that was big being able to go down there and score and get the two-point conversion even though it didn’t matter — we were down by nine — but we went down there and did what we had to. Just us showing we belong on the field with them and can play with them skill-wise is the big thing.” [*** read more]
The Golden Eagles were playing their third 7-on-7 of the summer. They won it at Gadsden City, finished second at Boaz and made it to the semifinals Saturday.
POOL PLAY RECORDS
POOL A: Handley 5-0, Randolph County 3-1-1, B.B. Comer 2-2-1, Piedmont 2-3, Weaver 1-4, Cedar Bluff 1-4.
POOL B: Dora 5-0, Jacksonville 4-1, Douglas 3-2, Spring Garden 2-3, Sand Rock 1-4, Ranburne 0-5.
