Stars Shine Bright at the Rocky Top Classic

Chris Smith February 28, 2021 @ 12:04 PM

Teams and organizations from all across the country embarked on Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the 2021 Rocky Top 7v7 Classic and the event did not disappoint. We had a lot of representation for the state of Tennessee as several organizations from across the state competed in this event with one team making it to the championship game. Representing the Anderson County Mavericks, Code Blue competed against the eventual champion, Defcon 1 from Miami, Florida but the East Tennessee team had a strong showing at the Rocky Top Classic led by quarterback Walker Martinez Walker Martinez 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Anderson County | 2023 State TN and TE/LB Zach Shannon Zach Shannon 6'2" | 215 lbs | ATH Anderson County | 2022 State TN . Code Blue is definitely a formidable opponent with a lot of talented prospects but they were not the only teams in Gatlinburg sporting high quality football recruits. The host team of the tournament, Dream Team, had more than its share of football stars led by 4-star receiver Barion Brown Barion Brown 6'1" | 165 lbs | WR Pearl-Cohn | 2022 State TN , 4-star linebacker Keaten Wade Keaten Wade 6'4" | 215 lbs | LB Summit | 2022 State TN and 3-star quarterback Cade Law Cade Law 6'1" | 210 lbs | QB CPA | 2022 State TN . Dream Team had a solid showing on the day until being defeated in the quarterfinals by Code Blue. The three names mentioned above aren't the only high level recruits that play Dream Team. Among the others suiting up at the Rocky Top Classic include Alex Ford Alex Ford 6'0" | 185 lbs | DB Father Ryan | 2022 State TN , Charles Ingram IV, Destin Wade Destin Wade 6'3" | 205 lbs | QB Summit | 2022 State TN , Javis Mynatt, Nakelin McAfee Nakelin McAfee 5'10" | 190 lbs | RB The King's Academy | 2022 State TN , Isaac Rollins Isaac Rollins 5'11" | 185 lbs | DB Ravenwood | 2022 State TN and others. Also representing the great state of Tennessee was BallHawkU, based out of Nashville. Sporting the most teams in the tourney, BallHawk had an up and down day, placing one squad into the 2nd round of bracket play before being displaced. Led by 2023 Henry Co. standouts Ryan Damron Ryan Damron 6'0" | 185 lbs | QB Henry County | 2023 State TN and Zamaryion Kendall Zamaryion Kendall 6'0" | 195 lbs | RB Lausanne Collegiate | 2023 State TN , the Green Team for BallHawkU picked up three wins on the day, doing so in a variety of ways. Their defense stood tall early as the offense got their feet under them but once Damron and his receivers got comfortable, the offense started rolling. Kendall was not the only wideout who stood out on the day but his teammates Daniel Morra, Javion Goins, Jayce Kendall and Colin Jernigan Colin Jernigan 5'9" | 165 lbs | ATH Riverdale | 2024 TN had outstanding days as well. One of the top standouts of the day, regardless of team or organization was newly 2022 reclassified safety D'Arco Perkins. Playing for BallHawkU Black, Perkins was all over the place on Saturday on both sides of the ball. He had multiple picks on defense and produced several touchdowns on offense as a big play, deep threat. Perkins has received multiple P5 offers recently including Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee and others with several more are on the way. One organization to mention that came all the way from the Detroit area and the state of Michigan was Sound Mind Sound Body and boy did they bring some talent with them. Sporting three teams in total, SMSB was led by West Bloomfield (MI) and 4-star athlete Dillon Tatum. Well built physically with a versatile skill set, Tatum was a hard matchup for the defensive opposition as his speed, crisp route running and ball skills were tough to stop. Tatum easily stood out but he was not the only one. 2023 quarterback Drew Viotto had shining moments throughout the day and rising senior defensive back Jaris McIntosh flashed big time speed and instincts during several games I was able to see. SMSB as an organization had a really good day as they sent one team into the Semifinals of the tournament and was a tough out for anyone they competed against. More Standout Prospects (QB) Tevin Carter Tevin Carter 6'3" | 205 lbs | QB Kirby | 2022 State TN - P.U.R.E. Academy (TN) - #BallHawkRed (QB) Joseph Cummings - Independence (TN) - #BallHawkBlue (TE) McKeon Whitsett McKeon Whitsett 6'3" | 220 lbs | TE Franklin County | 2022 State TN - Franklin Co. (TN) - #BallHawkGold (TE) Michael Hawkins - Somerset (Ky) - #BallHawkWhite (DB) Devin Storey Devin Storey 5'10" | 180 lbs | DB Cane Ridge | 2022 State TN - Cane Ridge (TN) - #BallHawkGreen (DB) Syncere Safeeullah - Hillsboro (TN) - #BallHawkSilver ‘23 (RB/LB) Gavin Noe Gavin Noe 6'2" | 220 lbs | RB Anderson County | 2023 State TN - Anderson Co. (TN) - #CodeBlue ‘23 (LB) Ethan Crisp Ethan Crisp 6'3" | 205 lbs | LB Mt. Juliet | 2023 State TN - Mt. Juliet (TN) - #DreamTeam ‘23 (WR/S) Hudson Cobb Hudson Cobb 6'2" | 190 lbs | ATH Independence | 2023 TN - Independence (TN) - #BallHawkSilver ‘23 (DB) D.J. Johnson - Bolles Sch (FL) - #AcesFCSouth ‘23 (Ath) David Nixon - Cane Ridge (TN) - #BallHawkGold ‘24 (QB) Jackson Ford Jackson Ford 6'3" | 290 lbs | DL/OL Millington Central | 2025 State TN - Beech (TN) - #TeamTennessee