West Suburban goes 7-on-7

New Hinsdale South football coach Mike Barry is busy installing his offense in the first two weeks of the summer. His first major tryout comes next week when the West Suburban Conference holds its first 7-on-7 league at Addison Trail.

“We build on things. It’s always in operation,” said Barry, formerly the coach at Evergreen Park. “Seven-on-7 in the summer is fun for the guys. It’s not as realistic as you’d like because linebackers don’t have to respect the run.”

Hinsdale South will hold more 7-on-7 sessions with individual teams, but the new 10-team West Suburban Passing tournament will become the Hornets’ biggest 7-on-7 commitment of the summer.

Barry is bringing a four-receiver no-huddle spread offense to Hinsdale South. Every snap will feature the shotgun, which wasn’t always the case in last year’s spread offense under former coach Alex Bitto. The Hornets can also build around a pair of returning running backs in Kylen Williams and Keontae Hall.

“We work at a pretty quick pace,” Barry said. “It’s all about execution.”

The Hornets will also unveil a new defense, which Barry describes as a hybrid featuring 4-3 and 3-5 formations.

Hinsdale South will be a work in progress at the West Suburban tournament, which is the brainchild of Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet Jr.

Parpet was inspired by other 7-on-7 leagues and thought the West Suburban schools could duplicate other conference 7-on-7 pairings such as the annual Mid-Suburban League vs. Central Suburban League Challenge every July at Maine West. The West Suburban tournament will be held from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. June 28 and June 30.

The four West Suburban teams not involved in the tournament are Hinsdale Central, Downers South, Proviso East and Proviso West.

Games are played on 50-yard fields and consist of 40 plays. Each team alternates on offense and defense for 10 plays each and unlike other passing leagues, scoring will not be kept. Players must wear helmets and any touching of the ball carrier will end a play.

“The way I look at it, it’s an opportunity for all of us to get together,” Parpet said. “It’s an opportunity to go out and coach our kids.”

Barry, along with new conference coaches John Hoerster of Oak Park-River Forest and Nick Hildreth of Willowbrook, will be making their first appearance at a West Suburban Conference event. New coach Rich Tarka at Hinsdale Central is not bringing the Devils to Addison Trail, but will be competing in a few other 7-on-7 sessions this summer.

Seven on 7s are gaining popularity along with the rise of passing-oriented spread offenses. Private, for-profit 7-on-7 teams were the recent focus of a report on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

The Lake Barrington Field House hosted the All-American 7-on-7 indoor Passing League in the spring and then the top players from that league represented Team Illinois for a competition at Eastern Michigan University on May 30. Team Illinois, quarterbacked by Loyola’s Malcolm Weaver, won the tournament over teams from Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.

The five-year old All-American League hosted 46 teams this past season, compared to 24 teams in 2010. A similar league is planned for next season at the MAX McCook Athletic Center.

“Seven on 7 has gained a lot of popularity, but I think you need to go about it in the right manner,” said Parpet, who is in his second season since taking over Addison Trail’s program from his father, Paul Sr. “I feel too many schools go to 7 on 7s and then in the back of their mind feel they have to go out and win and keep score.”

The Blazers will compete in only two other major 7-on-7 sessions at Bolingbrook July 16 and at Prospect July 21.

Hoerster held his first summer workout Monday at OPRF an expects to use a watered-down playbook at Addison Trail. Hoerster, a longtime assistant at defending Class 8A state runner-up Mount Carmel, will bring an option-oriented, run-first offense to the Huskies. Seven-on-7s don’t really benefit running teams.

Mount Carmel attends only one 7-on-7 session each summer at Richards. In addition to the two dates at Addison Trail, OPRF’s only other 7-on-7 date is July 14 at home.

“We’re excited about the West Suburban 7-on-7, but at the same time you have to take it with a grain of salt. Passing is a very small part of our offense at this point,” Hoerster said. “I think it’s great for the kids to compete against kids from other schools.”

Lyons coach Kurt Weinberg will compete in three consecutive days of 7 on 7 next week. Between the West Suburban dates, Lyons will compete at Nazareth at 10:30 a.m. June 29. Other 7-on-7 dates for Lyons include at Maine West July 12, at Prospect July 14, at Lyons July 19 and at Highland Park July 21.

“You want to be competitive during summer practices,” Weinberg said. “Everyday you get after it. It’s a way of getting the competitive juices [flowing] and not bang on each other.”

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