John Tyler Goes 1-2 in Saturday’s Rowlett 7-on-7 Football State Qualifier Tournament

ROWLETT -- In its second bid for a 7-on-7 football state tournament berth in as many weekends, John Tyler fell short once again.

The Lions started Saturday morning strong with a 34-6 rout of Wylie, but dropped their second and third games to Carrollton Creekview and Rockwall, respectively, at Rowlett's Division I state qualifier tournament.

John Tyler, which lost 26-13 to Longview in a June 15 state qualifier tournament semifinal at Tyler's Lindsey Park, came back to tie Creekview 27-27 in the second half before the Mustangs scored the game's final three touchdowns for a 48-27 victory.

John Tyler went back and forth with Rockwall, which led 7-6 at halftime. Rockwall led 13-6 before John Tyler 2015 quarterback Geovari McCollister found 2014 tailback Reggie Gipson for a 45-yard touchdown (length of the field) to cut the deficit once more to one point, but the Yellowjackets answered again for a 19-12 lead. The touchdown was Gipson's second of the game after he scored the Lions' first-half touchdown from McCollister.

John Tyler had an ball tipped at the goal line for an interception on its ensuing possession, but got a stop and tied the game on a 45-yard, third-down scoring strike from McCollister to 6-foot-4 2015 receiver Rodney Bendy with three minutes left in the contest.

Rockwall scored the game-winning touchdown with 50 seconds remaining. With the running clock, John Tyler was unable to get the ball back with any time left to attempt to tie the game.

The Lions might be able to get in a final state qualifier tournament next weekend. Midlothian's SQT is a possibility.

Alto, which was scheduled to play in Friday's Rowlett event, did not show.

Rowlett 7-on-7 Football State Qualifier Tournament Results

Pool A

• Rowlett 44, McKinney 22
• Mesquite Poteet 40, Lucas Lovejoy 39
• Mesquite Poteet 31, Rowlett 21
• McKinney 27, Lucas Lovejoy 19
• Lucas Lovejoy 34, Rowlett 15
• Mesquite Poteet 31 McKinney 6

Pool B

• Rockwall 33, Carrollton Creekview 14
• John Tyler 34, Wylie 6
• Wylie 33, Rockwall 18
• Carrollton Creekview 48, John Tyler 27
• Rockwall 26, John Tyler 19
• Carrollton Creekview 33, Wylie 7

Pool C

• Sherman 38, Terrell 31
• Wylie East 33, Dallas Skyline 31
• Dallas Skyline 38, Sherman 31
• Wylie East 40, Terrell 6
• Sherman 40, Wylie East 38
• Dallas Skyline 40, Terrell 6

Pool D

• Coppell over Alto (forfeit; Alto no-showed)
• North Mesquite 54, Greenville 20
• Coppell 41, Greenville 21
• North Mesquite over Alto (forfeit)
• Coppell 31, North Mesquite 24
• Greenville over Alto (forfeit)

Semifinals

(winners qualify for D-I state tournament)

• Mesquite Poteet 33, Rockwall 27 (OT)
• Coppell 40, Dallas Skyline 34