COLLEGE STATION — High scoring is common in 7-on-7 football, perhaps to the point where it's a landmark of the summer passing-oriented game.

Usually, though, the point totals are near gawdy on both sides. Sixty-one times during the state tournament Friday and Saturday at Texas A&M, teams scored 40 or more points.

There were five shutouts, including one 7-0 game.

Even faced with those or similar numbers, some are adamant that summer work is just as important — maybe more — for the same defensive backs and linebackers who so often are put at a disadvantage by a short field and superb quarterbacks.

"From last season to now, I've improved a lot ... in making sure I read my keys and just following my rules as to what to do," said Cy-Fair's Duran Snoddy, a junior cornerback who drifts inside as a hybrid player the Bobcats call a linebacker bandit. "At bandit you get to play the run a lot. ... There's a lot of keying on the tight end and seeing how the line moves and what moves I need to make. They determine what I do."

Snoddy had one of the best weekends of any defender, nabbing three interceptions Friday as the Bobcats went 3-0 in pool play. He had two picks against Schertz Clements and another against Arlington.

Perhaps the best performance by an entire unit belonged to Langham Creek, which harassed Spring quarterback Kenric McNeal, a verbal commitment to Texas A&M, into throwing four interceptions in a 44-0 rout Saturday morning.

"Normally when people talk about 7-on-7 they say it's an offensive game. But our coaches preach to us day and night to make this a defensive game," Lobos defensive back D.J. Teasly said. "If we can get stops, this is our game. We did that this weekend. People stepped up and made big plays."

After going 0-3 in pool play, Langham Creek outscored its first two Saturday opponents, Wylie and Spring, 85-19. The Lobos lost 34-33 to Abilene in the consolation final.

"Everybody (on defense) is just trying to do their own jobs," Langham Creek defensive coach Matt Jansen said. "You try to keep things the same as they'd be in the fall; just make sure the guys execute a lot and stay on their assignments. (They just have to) come up and play.

"These guys have to believe the defense can dominate a game."

Most of the Lobos' picks of McNeal came on fairly short passes, but they also halted a handful of scoring opportunities with either interceptions or deflections. That directly showed the Lobos' improvement at defending deep, Teasly said.

"Deep balls (have) been killing us all year," he said. "We just have to stay together and do what we do and come out well."

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