Sooner7 Defensive Standouts – Jan. 23-24

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> The 7v7 season is upon us and Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have more coverage of it than you’ll find anywhere else! One of the tournament circuits that is growing in popularity is Championship 7v7 and they held one of their first few tournaments over the weekend in Plano. We were there from start to finish, covering Sooner7 and their two 18U teams. Check out the tournament recap <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/01/sooner-7-opens-tourney-circuit-in-dallas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>RIGHT HERE</strong></a>. Below, we have seven standouts from the defensive side of the ball. For a look at our seven standouts on offense, you can check that out <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/01/sooner7-offensive-standouts-jan-23-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>RIGHT HERE</strong></a>. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="101263" first="Cade" last="Stacy"] - Jenks</strong></span> If we were crowning a breakout performer from this weekend it would probably go to Jenks junior cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="101263" first="Cade" last="Stacy"]. We knew about the lanky defensive back from the reigning state champions but this was a chance to really watch his game up close and in person. Stacy certainly brought it at the cornerback position. During one of the games on Saturday, Stacy did an excellent job in one on one situations at cornerback and came down with an interception and nearly took it back for a defensive touchdown. Stacy is a long athlete that we’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on throughout the course of this tournament circuit as he’s a defensive prospect to have circled. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61131" first="Duncan" last="Parham"] - Norman North</strong></span> Norman North junior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="61131" first="Duncan" last="Parham"] was without a doubt the most fun player to watch throughout the weekend on the defensive side of the ball. Parham is a fast-rising linebacker in Oklahoma’s 2022 class and he even picked up a D1 offer in between tournament games this weekend. However, this is what made Parham fun to watch. He’s without a doubt the biggest kid on Sooner7’s defense and anytime opponents went over the middle, you could see Parham wanting to get a little more physical than the simple 7v7 tag. It might have just been 7v7 but Parham didn’t let that take the physicality out of his game. Imagine him with pads on and you have a hard-hitting backer. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="98179" first="Jakeb" last="Snyder"] - Bixby</strong></span> Bixby’s [player_tooltip player_id="98179" first="Jakeb" last="Snyder"] is in the same ball park as Jenks defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="101263" first="Cade" last="Stacy"]. We knew Snyder’s abilities coming off Bixby’s state championship run. However, we wanted a chance to really watch his game up close. Obviously, Bixby had plenty of standouts on that championship team, several of which also play for Sooner7 and didn’t get a chance to play this weekend. Snyder was able to play and he performed really well at the cornerback position. Snyder is a player that we had ranked as a wide receiver in our latest <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2023-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>2023 RANKINGS</strong></a>. However, he certainly showcased a strong skillset at cornerback. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38778" first="Kanijal" last="Thomas"] - Del City</strong></span> Del City’s [player_tooltip player_id="38778" first="Kanijal" last="Thomas"] was right there with Holland Hall’s [player_tooltip player_id="61125" first="NuNu" last="Campbell"] as arguably the two best defensive backs between Sooner7’s two 18U teams. With Campbell on one team and Thomas on the other, it allowed both of them to showcase their game-changing abilities. Every time we saw Thomas up close and personal, he was lining up as a safety and wasn’t playing much corner. This allowed Thomas to use his speed and athleticism to just read the quarterback’s eyes and make plays literally all over the field. Thomas was excellent at tracking the play on the defensive side of the ball and even made some spectacular interceptions during pool play on Saturday. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] - Coweta</strong></span> Coweta standout [player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] is one of the best young athletes in Oklahoma today. He helped lead Coweta to a district championship and was a game changer in all three aspects of the game. However, this weekend, we just got a chance to see Ford on the defensive side of the ball as he didn’t play much offense, if any. However, when he was on the field, he was lining up at corner. We really enjoyed watching Ford throughout the two days in Dallas. He doesn’t have some of the size that the other DB’s have but he has speed and pure skill. He’s not afraid to go right up to the line of scrimmage against a receiver that has a few inches on him and absolutely lock him down. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61125" first="NuNu" last="Campbell"] - Holland Hall</strong></span> Holland Hall junior [player_tooltip player_id="61125" first="NuNu" last="Campbell"] one of the best cornerbacks in Oklahoma and he showcased those skills throughout the weekend. It was interesting to keep a close eye on the Holland Hall standout as he was moving around the defensive side of the ball. Campbell wasn’t just lining up at cornerback, he was also playing some possessions at safety. Campbell was at his best when he was lining up at cornerback. We weren’t there for every single play, but we didn’t see Campbell give up a catch when he was lining up at the cornerback spot. It’s pretty easy to see why Campbell is considered one of the best corners in the state as he dominated in 1 on 1 situations. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="101264" first="Zane" last="Shadid"] - Bishop McGuinness</strong></span> A lot of what we wrote about with Norman North’s [player_tooltip player_id="61131" first="Duncan" last="Parham"] can be followed up right here with Bishop McGuinness sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="101264" first="Zane" last="Shadid"]. The young Irish standout was one of the more consistent defensive players for Sooner7 throughout the weekend. Shadid is a linebacker so his focus was on the middle of the field, which got plenty of action from receivers on slants or crossing routes. Shadid had a strong sophomore season with McGuinness and he’s picking up right where he left off with a strong showing in Dallas. It’s going to be fun to see how Shadid grows over the next few months as he could really emerge as a big time 2023 linebacker prospect.