The fourth annual Hudl Benton Tiger 7-on-7 Charity Invitational tournament is Friday and Saturday at Freedom Fields.
Pool play starts at 1 p.m. Friday. It will be followed by a double-elimination tournament starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Airline, Parkway and Haughton join Benton in the 21-team field. Parkway is the defending champion.
Other teams competing are Mansfield, West Monroe, Huntington (varsity and JV), St. James, Captain Shreve, Green Oaks, Neville, Southwood, Loyola, North DeSoto, Pineville, Bolton, Calvary, Lakeside, Logansport and North Caddo.
Shane Carpenter, a Louisiana Tech offensive lineman, will be the guest speaker.
All proceeds from the tournament will be donated to Royal Family Kids in Minden.
According to its website, “the mission of Royal Family KIDS mission is to have 100,000+ foster children in one of our camps & mentoring clubs, and to change lives with the effective demonstration of compassion and unconditional love.”
The tournament boasts a strong field.
West Monroe is a perennial Class 5A powerhouse. The Rebels reached the Class 5A semifinals last season, losing to eventual state champion Zachary 29-27.
Benton went 10-0 in the regular season in 2017 and won the District 1-4A championship.
Airline and Haughton tied for second in District 1-5A last year. The Vikings reached the quarterfinals before losing to Zachary 34-24.
Neville is a perennial Class 4A power. The Tigers reached the quarterfinals last season.
St. James was a Class 3A quarterfinalist last year. Calvary is the defending District 1-2A champion. Mansfield finished second in 1-2A last season.
Loyola is the two-time defending District 1-3A champion.
North DeSoto went 8-4 last year and reached the second round of the 4A playoffs.
Logansport went 10-0 in the 2017 regular season and reached the Class 1A semifinals. The Tigers won the 2016 state title.
Pineville head coach Dennis Dunn is a former head coach at Woodlawn and Evangel Christian.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
