JesseWJohnson

Yes, Willy Korn of Byrnes is going to have a great career at Clemson I believe. He has all the tools. And Pulaski's quarterback, Stefan Loucks is going to be a starter at a major school eventually. Rogers of Arkansas had a real good quarterback in Cody Kirby, who if he was probably an inch or two taller, and didn't get injured last year, would probably have 5-10 offers by now. Kid can sling it. Bowling Green of Kentucky was the team that pulled out before Saturday's pool play (never got a reason why) and then Clarksville didn't participate in the tournament, and it did effect many of the teams including Smith County. They had a good showing I believe and just missed on beating MBA in the quarters. I think the two teams leaving also effected the brackets in that Centennial and Independence had to play each other in the first round. Had that not happened, I think they would've likely gone to at least the 2nd round. Shiloh Christian of Arkansas was originally supposed to be there but said they couldn't make it cause of school or something.

I attended the whole event and covered it. For those who want to know more about the teams in the state, I can give you a run down. Of the local teams, the ones that impressed me the most were Centennial, Independence, Stratford, Smith County, Smyrna, and MBA's #1 team (MBA had 2 teams). Centennial has a couple of good players, especially Barlow. Very versatile and if he has a good senior season, he could end up getting some D1 offers. They've got a WR in Drew Kelly that looked pretty good too. I think he's just a sophomore. Independence looks like they are getting better and with Coach Smith, I have confidence in them to continue to get better. Most of their better players will just be sophomores and juniors this coming season..and one player from their team that really impressed me was WR/DB Issac Bauch. With more development, he could definitely be a D1 player. Stratford had the upset of the tournament, taking out Pulaski Academy of Arkansas. If you don't know much about Pulaski, they have a QB who will be playing in a BCS conference next year and their running back, Broderick Green is committed to Southern Cal. Stratford...if they can have a defense and an offensive line this year, could really improve in metro this year. They have a good junior-to-be receiver/DB in TeAndre Fisher. Smith County, I didn't get to see as much as I wanted to, but they looked pretty good and got to the quarterfinals. They have a good looking quarterback in Patrick Sanders. Smyrna looked pretty good on Friday. I think Sonny Gray actually had better arm strength than any other kid I saw (that includes Willy Korn (Clemson) and Logan Gray from Missouri). The problem with Smyrna seemed to be some dropped balls but I'm sure they'll work that out when real football comes around anyways. I thought Josh Crouch looked pretty good. Rodriguez Wilks is very talented. Sonny didn't play on Saturday cause he had a baseball game. Still, I believe Tyler Slater led them to a first round win. MBA made it all the way to the semi-final, and I think actually out played Byrnes and could've easily won. I think the final score was 19-14, but MBA had the game, just 2 crucial INTs (one tip ball and one good play by Byrnes) led to the loss basically. The receivers made some of the best catches of the tournament in that game. Lavergne struggled, but still made it to the second round. I still think they've got a lot of weapons to work with when the real thing comes in the fall. Jesse Johnson VandySports.com (Unapproved Website)