All three of Suffolk’s Southeastern District football teams will be in action all day next Saturday, June 27, at what has turned into a staple of preseason football for many squads around the Eastern Region, the 4th Annual Peanut City Shootout at King’s Fork High School.

The tournament is a 7-on-7 passing tournament, in which the offense has a center, a quarterback and five receivers, while the defense has its linebackers and defensive backs. The games are meant as practice and training tools ahead of the upcoming season, but that doesn’t mean the action isn’t fast and competitive.

Games will get going on six fields at King’s Fork at 10 a.m. and the championship game of the event will start around 5:30 p.m. Twenty-four schools, including seven from the Southeastern District (King’s Fork, Lakeland, Nansemond River, Deep Creek, Grassfield, Oscar Smith and Western Branch) will be on hand. Lake Taylor, the defending champion, is scheduled to play.

Each squad will play at least four games. After three pool-play games, the top 12 teams will play single-elimination in a championship bracket. The bottom 12 teams will play in a consolation bracket.

As in the past three Shootouts, some squads will be coming from far and wide to get a good day’s work in ahead of August and September. Marlboro County High School of Bennettsville, S.C., Caroline High of Bowling Green, Va., and McDonough High or Pomfret, Md. are a part of this year’s tourney.

The 7-on-7 games are 25 minutes long with a running clock except for the final two minutes. Tackles are made with one-hand touch. There are no running plays and the quarterback must pass the ball within four seconds of the snap or it counts as a sack.

The defense can have just as big an impact on the scoreboard as the QB and receivers. A touchdown is worth seven points. An interception is three points and forcing a turnover on downs is worth two points.

Each possession starts on the opponent’s 40 (40 yards from the end zone). The offense only gets three downs and first downs are gained by reaching the 25-yard line and the 10-yard line.

Last season, King’s Fork finished 4-6 overall. Lakeland was 3-7 and Nansemond River finished 1-9.