By Chris Kinkaid
The Daily News

Franklinton and St. Paul’s School scored five touchdowns each in a 7-on-7 competition that took place July 12 at Franklinton High School.
The game was played on a 40-yard field.
Offensively for the Demons, Tahj Magee threw four touchdown passes and Rakerian Conerly had three touchdown receptions.
Conerly said he believes he went out and fought hard.
“Hard work pays off,” Conerly said. “That’s something I believe in. I’m a leading receiver. I’m a senior, so I feel like I’ve got to show the younger receivers how we need to play. Always be up-tempo. I feel like I could be one of the better receivers of the team, so I think that’s a good way to show it — by working hard and playing hard every play to lead the team.”
Defensively, the Demons played well. Except for allowing a couple of big plays, they forced several turnovers on downs and made two interceptions, with Avant Monie and Conerly picking off a pass each.
Franklinton outside linebacker LaMount Harris, who switched from defensive end to outside linebacker, said the defense has gotten better.
“We’re learning the coverages,” Harris said. “On a more skill level, we’ve got more athleticism. We’ve got more speed this year. We switched a couple of things. That’s why I’m on there because we need more speed, better coverage. It’s just going to work out. We struggled a little bit, but we’re getting better at it.”
Wednesday’s 7-on-7 was a back-and-forth contest, as neither team led by more than a touchdown.
Franklinton tallied the first score when Magee hit Conerly for a touchdown.
St. Paul’s tied the game after the Wolves turned it over on downs and the Demons threw a pick to make it a 1-1 game.
After the teams exchanged turnovers on downs, Jasper LaSalle found Conerly for a touchdown.
The Wolves evened the game on the following possession.
Franklinton went back in front 3-2 with Magee hitting Shayland Allen, but the Wolves knotted the game at 3-3.
Neither team scored on the their next chance and Franklinton went in front, 4-3, when Magee hit Lagarian Bell.
St. Paul’s tied and went in front with a touchdown on the next series and one more after neither team scored on their following possession.
The Magee-to-Conerly connection tied the game at 5-5.
Each team turned the ball over on downs and Conerly intercepted a pass on the final possession of the day to keep it a 5-5 final.
“We’ve gotten better since the start,” Franklinton coach Stephen Burris said. “We’re learning the coverages. We’ve made some adjustments from when we played in the spring with the 3-3, moved the defensive end to linebacker (Harris) and went to a 3-4.
“Personnel wise, we’re better with what we have on the field now. We’re starting to grasp the concepts in coverage.”