Alma set for 7-on-7 camp 

By Kevin Taylor

Alma Schools 

The Alma Airedales football team will host its 7th Annual 7-on-7 football tournament today. 

For Coach Rusty Bush, this will be the sixth time he’s been involved in the event. Former Alma coach Doug Loughridge brought the event to Alma from Charleston, where it originated. 

“It’s an outstanding field again,” Bush said. “You’ve got most of the Northwest Arkansas schools; you’ve got Bentonville, Bentonville West, Fayetteville, Greenwood, Springdale, and Springdale Har-Ber.

“Of course, you’ve got the defending 7A state champion Bryant here again.” 

Bryant also participated in the 7-on-7 event in 2024. 

“It’s a 15-team field with one JV team (Greenwood), but it’s an outstanding field,” Bush said.

This year’s event will be critical for the Airedales as well, who will have to find a replacement for last season’s quarterback, Michael Taylor. 

“It’s not just the quarterback, but everywhere,” Bush said. “We’re not necessarily young, but we’re inexperienced. We played a ton of seniors last year who took the majority of the reps. Like I’ve been telling the kids, we’re just a young and inexperienced team. It’s just going to take us some time before we can do things, like 7-on-7 and Team Camps. We’re going to be fine, but we’ve got a long way to go. 

“The 7-on-7 tournament will help us.”