SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The football season may be over, but for a handful of local players from Galt High School and Liberty Ranch, the work never stopped. Three area athletes – Liberty Ranch quarterback Ryan Ogas, Galt High quarterback Robert Rubio and Liberty Ranch receiver Enzo Diaz – have spent part of their off-season competing with G7 Elite 7on7, a club team that is quickly making a name for itself in the Sacramento regional football scene.

G7 Elite is the brainchild of SteelProductions, a local media company that recognized an opportunity to give talented young players meaningful off-season competition while building a team culture that extends beyond any single school or program. Launched about two months ago, the club has already assembled an impressive and diverse roster of freshmen, sophomores and juniors drawn from schools across the Sacramento area, including Galt High, Liberty Ranch, Woodcreek, Ponderosa, Granite Bay, Grant, Twelve Bridges, Oakmont, Lincoln, Placer and Sacramento High. And according to those involved, the roster is still growing.

Warrior quarterback Robert Rubio follows through after throwing.

The team recently tested itself at a 7-on-7 tournament held at John F. Kennedy High School and the results were encouraging. G7 Elite went 3-2 on the day, picking up wins against quality competition and showing flashes of what this young program is capable of when the pieces come together.

For Ogas and Rubio, two quarterbacks who spend their respective high school seasons on opposite sidelines, the experience of competing on the same team has been something different entirely. In a 7-on-7 format – which removes linemen from the equation and places the entire emphasis on passing, route running, coverage and decision-making – quarterbacks are tested in ways that translate directly to their development heading into the next high school season. The fast-paced, high-repetition nature of club 7-on-7 sharpens reads, builds chemistry with pass catchers and forces young signal-callers to process the game at an accelerated pace.

Diaz, working as a pass catcher in the open-field environment that 7-on-7 was built for, brings the athleticism that has made him a weapon for the Hawks and now gives him a platform to develop his game against competition from across the region.

What makes G7 Elite particularly compelling is the breadth of its roster. Pulling players from more than 10 different programs – public and private, rural and suburban – the team is as much about building relationships and competitive experience as it is about wins and losses. For players from smaller programs or schools still developing their football cultures, the chance to compete alongside and against athletes from powerhouse programs in the Sacramento area is an invaluable part of growth.

Hawk quarterback Ryan Ogas looks to place the ball.

For the Galt-area players involved, it is also a chance to represent their schools on a broader stage, proving that the talent coming out of this community can hold its own against the best the region has to offer. A 3-2 showing at Kennedy against strong club and high school competition is a solid early indicator that G7 Elite is a team worth watching as the off-season continues.

With the program only two months old and still adding players, the trajectory for G7 Elite 7on7 points upward. For Ogas, Rubio, Diaz and their teammates from across the Sacramento area, the off-season grind is very much alive, and the competition is only going to get better from here.