By D. Mark Mitchell

sports columnist

OPELIKA ATHLETICS
The Opelika High football team traveled to Dalton, Georgia, to participate in the Southeastern Seven-on-Seven “Turf Wars” tournament. The tournament included four pools of high school teams.
The Bulldogs finished second in pool play, beating Dalton, Maplesville, Gilmer County, Ga., Jefferson, Ind., and Coahulla Creek, Ga. The Bulldogs’ lone loss was to Spartanburg, SC.
Their pool record qualified them for the finals. The Dawgs won their first game before losing the second. OHS battled back through the losers bracket to beat Spartanburg by one point to claim the tournament championship.
The football team hosted the Lee County Fellowship of Christian Athletes Seven-on-Seven football tournament yesterday. The tournament was held at the Opelika Sportsplex on the W. James Samford Soccer Complex. This is always a quality event under the egis of Wayne Dickens, director of the Lee County FCA who is himself a class act. Teams from around Lee county participated in the day-long event which included a devotional, Seven-on-Seven Tournament and lunch.
OHS will take next week off before returning to begin preparations for the 2015 season. The Dawgs open the season August 21 in Tuscaloosa against Hillcrest of Tuscaloosa. The home opener is August 28 against Auburn.
SEASON TICKETS
Opelika High football season tickets go on sale for existing ticket- holders August 10-14 from 3:45-6 pm in lobby of the Opelika Performing Arts Center. Current season ticket holders can try to improve their seats August 17, 3:45-5:30 pm at the OPAC in lobby.
New season tickets can be purchased August 18, 3:45-5:30 pm in OPAC lobby. Cost is $7.00 per game times five games which equals $35.00 per season book.
OPELIKA
ATHLETICS WILL UNVEIL NEW ATHLETIC WEBSITE
Opelika Athletics will introduce a new upscale website for Opelika athletics. The dawgnetwork.com will be replaced by www.opelikaathletics.com.  The new website will allow fans to keep up with every OHS sport up to the minute. Coaches will be able to update scores and information as soon as games/matches/meets are complete.
The new website will be unveiled sometime in August. Stay tuned for more details.
CORPORATE
SPONSORSHIP
Opelika fans and boosters still have time to purchase Corporate Sponsorships. The All-Sports Boosters Club offers Corporate Sponsorships ranging from $500 to $5000. Each plan consists of benefits according to the amount of the plan. The Corporate Sponsorship money helps the OHS/OMS Athletic Department, every sport at OHS and the cheerleaders.
The money is kept and administered by Opelika High School. The money helps the athletic department with extra needs that arise during the athletic year.
OPELIKA
SEA DAWGS
The Opelika Sea Dawgs, Opelika Recreation Department swim team, hosted the District 5 swim meet last weekend at the Opelika Sportsplex. The three-day meet saw 400 swimmers divided among eight teams. Opelika finished second behind Prattville.
The following Opelika swimmers qualified for the state meet July 23-25 in Birmingham:
Bryan McEntire          Jacob Stockton             Graham Forthofer         Tripp Vaughn              Alexis Coulter             Mylee Bordeaux        Georgia Vaughn     Isabella Jackson         Cole Coulter             Patrick Tufts             Ben Chung             Mitchell Stockton     Allie Britnell             Sarah Bush             Jinhyo Park             Martha Pugh             Mamie Nicholson         Sarah Ashley Forthofer         Mattie Bingham         Paola Aldana            Anderson Grimes         Cole Jackson              Sean Ferrebee             Gabe Forthofer
Winston Tufts            Cleve Arner             Clay Harrington