Yuma County teams tune up at San Pasqual 7-on-7 event

Yuma County football teams got a real preseason checkup at San Pasqual High School’s Warrior Field, where programs from across the region spent the day in 7-on-7 action and a lineman challenge. The point was not just to chase a summer trophy. It was to see, against unfamiliar opponents, which players were ready now and which teams still had work to do before August.

Gila Ridge, Kofa, Somerton, Desert Star Academy of Fort Mohave and other schools all took part, turning the field into a regional measuring stick for offenses, coverages and line play. Gila Ridge emerged as the tournament champion after the bracket played out, but the broader value came from the volume of live reps. Summer work like this gives coaches a chance to spot growth, clean up mistakes and compare progress across position groups before practices begin to resemble the real season.

San Pasqual head coach Miguel Rivas framed the day as a development stop, not a finish line, emphasizing that improvement comes from getting out and working rather than sitting at home. That message fit especially well for Somerton, where the staff viewed the event as important for a newer varsity program still building an identity. Live competition gave those players a chance to feel the speed of varsity football without the pressure of a Friday night scoreboard.

For Desert Star Academy of Fort Mohave, the tournament offered a straightforward offseason benchmark: how much had the roster improved since winter and spring workouts? That same question ran through every matchup at Warrior Field. The line play, quarterback timing and secondary communication all showed where programs were sharp and where they were still learning to play with more urgency.

The timing also matters for what comes next in Yuma County. San Pasqual’s summer football calendar includes 7-on-7 sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays in June, a CIF no-contact period from July 5 through July 19, and the first official day of practice on July 31. The Warriors also listed an SDSU 7-on-7 tournament for June 13 and 14, underscoring how busy the offseason stretch has become. San Pasqual has now made the event a recurring summer stop, following a similar tournament last June, while Gila Ridge arrives with its own recent momentum after finishing 5-5 and second in the 4A Southwest Region in 2025. San Pasqual, meanwhile, came into the summer after tripling its win total to three last season, its first multi-win year since 2017 and its best campaign since 2013. For both programs, and for the rest of the field, Saturday’s work was a clear preview of who is ready to turn summer reps into August results.