By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Callaway Cavaliers will make the tour of SEC powerhouses this week.

Callaway will participate in seven-on-seven competitions at Georgia and Auburn, home of the two teams that played for the SEC championship last season.

The Georgia seven-on-seven tournament will be held Tuesday, while the Auburn competition will be on Thursday, and Troup will participate in that one as well.

Later this summer, Troup will be at the University of Alabama for a seven-on-seven event.

Callaway head coach Pete Wiggins believes the seven-on-sevens are helpful, even if the format is a lot different than what the players will see during the season.

It’ll be particularly helpful for the Cavaliers because they’ll have a new starting quarterback this season following the graduation of Kedrick Ramsey.

Jacob Freeman and Demetrius Coleman both looked impressive at quarterback during the spring game.

“I think the seven-on-sevens are valuable, just because of the amount of reps you get against usually bigger schools, and people that are well-coached and have really good ball-players,” Wiggins said. “You can’t replace those reps. Those kind of reps are hard to simulate at practice. So, when we go to Georgia, and then to Auburn on Thursday, we’ll play at least six games at each school, and the reps that we get will be priceless.”

Wiggins said the road trips also serve as a bonding experience for the players.

“It’s not only the reps you get, there’s a camaraderie when you go on a trip,” Wiggins said. “The kids are together all day for long periods of time. There’s adversities they have to overcome, plus it’s hot. It’s practice, so there’s a camaraderie that comes with it in addition to getting skills from going against people that are better than you.”

Troup coach Tanner Glisson said it’s a treat for his players to be able to play in some of the most well-known stadiums in the country, and they’ll get to do that at Auburn and Alabama.

“Those guys want to be at places they see on TV, and in front of Gus (Malzahn), and Nick Saban,” Glisson said. “They want to go compete at those places, and we try to provide that opportunity, especially since we have a group of kids committed to Auburn, and we have one committed to Alabama. If we had one committed elsewhere, we’d probably go there, too.”

There is also a practical aspect to the seven-on-sevens that Glisson appreciates, especially since Troup will have a new starting quarterback this season.

During the spring, Kobe Hudson and Nick Schweizer both took snaps at quarterback as Troup looks for a replacement for all-state performer Montez Crowe.

“Reps, reps, reps,” Glisson said. “As many reps as we can get against different looks and stuff is really good. Hopefully it’ll speed up the learning process.”