Mississippi vs. MoKan 8th Grade Prospect Report

The first quarterfinal game of the day featured a matchup between two FBU National Middle School Player of the Year Award finalists in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284039" first="Dezephen" last="Walker"]</strong> of MoKan and [player_tooltip player_id="212365" first="<strong>JaReylan</strong>" last="<strong>McCoy</strong>"] of Mississippi. Those two, and the rest of their squads, put on a great game to get the action started on Saturday. Ultimately Mississippi came away with the victory but the final score was not indicative of just how close this game was. <img class="alignleft wp-image-254190 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/DeZephenWalker-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Despite an ankle injury in the second quarter, no star shined brighter than <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284039" first="Dezephen" last="Walker"]</strong> of MoKan in this game. Without any over-exaggeration he was the catalyst for MoKan’s success earlier in the tournament and it rang true again in this game. In the first quarter the talented back took a direct snap and scored his first touchdown of the the afternoon. He followed that up int the second quarter with, in my opinion, the run of the day with a 95-yard touch down run that put MoKan up 20-7. on the 95-yard run, it appeared he was dead to rights, as a pair of Mississippi defenders had an angle on him to the outside. However, Walker turned on the afterburners and took it to the house in a jaw-dropping play. Before the ankle injury, which severely limited what he could do in the second half, Walker was picking up large chunks of yards at a clip. With an NFL pedigree, he is one you’re going to be hearing about for a long time. <img class="alignleft wp-image-254191 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/JaxonJenkins-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Mississippi combatted the play of Walker with a very balanced attack, offensively. While MoKan was all about sustained, methodical drives that wore down the defense--the boys from the ’Sip were explosive and looked to score quickly. The headliner of the explosive offense was quarterback <strong>Jaxon Jenkins. </strong>Jenkins had an excellent day, not trying to do too much and simply capitalizing on what the defense gave him. He finished with four touchdown passes on the afternoon in the back-and-forth action. <img class="alignleft wp-image-254192 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/BralanWomackFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Jenkins has the luxury of a lethal group of athletes around him. Most familiar to him is receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284024" first="Bralan" last="Womack"],</strong> as the pair played together during the regular season and bring the built-in chemistry. Womack is an elite looking prospect who took a screen pass from Jenkins 70+ yards towards up the right side of the field for the first passing/receiving touchdown of the afternoon. &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254193 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/XavierMcDonaldFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Another one of those offensive weapons on the outside for Mississippi is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284037" first="Xavier" last="McDonald"]. </strong>McDonald looks like a carbon copy of Womack, as they are both long, thin receivers with a huge catch radius and long strides. McDonald was the favorite target of Jenkins on the day, as the duo connected early and often. Their first connection of the day set up Mississippi’s first touch down early in the first quarter. Then, in the second quarter, McDonald caught the same screen pass Womack did earlier in the game and he brought it the distance. McDonald put an exclamation point on his day late in the fourth quarter, reeling in a beautiful ball on a fade route, with a toe-tapping catch in the back right corner of the end zone. <img class="alignleft wp-image-254194 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/CJCampbellFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Mississippi also got a trio of touchdowns from team-favorite and prankster, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="254400" first="Carlos" last="Campbell"]</strong>. The scat back used his shorter stature to his advantage by hiding behind his blockers and plunging into the endzone. His first score of the day came on the opening drive on a short run up the middle. He scored again on a 10-yard run with 3:15 left in the third quarter to get the avalanche of scoring started for Mississippi. He capped off his afternoon with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter where he found a small hole and squeezed in for the touchdown. <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-254199 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/CalinArndt2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />[player_tooltip player_id="267076" first="Calin" last="Arndt"] </strong>really put MoKan on his back with Walker limited due to injury. In the opening half he was used situationally with Walker getting the bulk of the touches, but Arndt certainly made the most of his opportunities. My first glimpse of what was to come, came in the first quarter when he took the ball on a broken play and rumbled up the near sideline and brought the ball inside the Mississippi 10-yard line. MoKan eventually scored on the drive. In the second half the pit bull took a short pass from quarterback <strong>Cash Newberry </strong>and showed some very unassuming speed, taking it to the house. He stepped up in a big way during this game and really impressed. <img class="alignleft wp-image-254200 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/Ronnel2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />While Walker and Arndt are the skill guys that get their name in the paper, I came away extremely impressed with offensive tackle, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284045" first="Ronelle" last="Johnson"]. </strong>Absolutely fell in love with his frame and the potential he has to be a next-level offensive lineman. He has long arms and legs and a big, wide frame that can withstand a lot more weight. As is the case with most middle school lineman, he’s very raw and there’s a lot of room for improvement with strength. But he has all the upside in the world. MoKan had a number of players who had a solid day day defensively, as well. <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-254202 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/KyranThompson-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Kyran Thompson</strong> was a nice looking defensive back. He came up and made a few nice plays in run support, despite having the unenviable task of covering Mississippi’s big play receivers. Thompson also played a significant role in the return game, setting MoKan up with decent field position throughout the game. &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-254204 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/KylerAlbretson-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Kyler Albertson</strong> had an interception for MoKan on the afternoon. Mississippi, trusting its big play receiver, threw it up into double coverage and Albertson made a nice play on the ball to cause the turnover. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254208 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/Silhouette-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Up front, <strong>Cartell Brooks </strong>had the best day defensively for MoKan. The edge prospect was Johnny on the spot, recovering a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown after an ill-advised snap by Mississippi. It’s fitting he made the recovery, as he was in the Mississippi backfield all day long making plays. Brooks also had a number of nice tackles at, or behind, the line of scrimmage. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254209 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/OmarBrand-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Getting back to Mississippi for a moment, there were times in this game where special teams were a little shakey and coaches were well aware of it. That being said, <strong>Omar Brand</strong> was a bright spot in the return game for them. He advanced the opening kick off to near midfield and also had a few more returns that set up Mississippi nicely.  He also added a great reception in the fourth quarter. &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-254211 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/KadenCathingsFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />[player_tooltip player_id="284030" first="Kaden" last="Catchings"]</strong> had a little more quiet of a day than he had in the opening round games, but the big-play receiver was not going to be shut out. In fact, if you want to point out a turning point in the game, his touchdown mid-way through the third quart made the score 33-26 in favor of Mississippi and the eventual winners never looked back. Looking towards the line play and some box defenders of Mississippi, they received some great performances from individuals on both sides of the ball. <strong><img class="alignleft wp-image-254214 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/BradenGrove-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Braden Grove </strong>did a quiet, but excellent, job of setting the edge defensively. MoKan’s Walker looked to bounce a lot of his runs outside and Grove made that a tough task for him. He stayed wide and collapsed when the play called for it, but never got caught too deep. He played a strong game. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254216 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/HayzenSheltonFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Behind the combined play of <strong>Hayzen Shelton</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="284035" first="Trence" last="Robertson"] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="212364" first="Dereon" last="Albert"], </strong>Mississippi’s offensive line had a very strong showing overall. Shelton played as advertised. The big guy has all the makings of a future SEC lineman if he continues to work on his feet and staying low. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254217 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/TrenceRobertson-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Robertson surprised the heck out of me yesterday. I didn’t think he was a bad player by any means, but I hadn’t seen enough of him to make any formal decision. However, after what I saw on both sides of the ball, he is a player with a tremendous future. In addition to his play, I loved what I saw on the sidelines in terms of his leadership ability. At half time I saw him encouraging and slapping hands with nearly everybody on the team. His intangibles are unquestionable. &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254218 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/DereonAlbertFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Albert started out a little slow in the game, in my opinion but really came on in the second half. At times he completely took over the game and was driving kids off the ball on offense. On defense you could hear his pads popping from the press box and he applied a ton of pressure later in the game when MoKan was trying to throw its way back into the game. &nbsp; &nbsp; <img class="alignleft wp-image-254221 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/12/JeRaylenMcCoyFBUR3-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Finally, the great ones always make plays at the biggest times and that’s what <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="212365" first="JaReylan" last="McCoy"]</strong> did for Mississippi. He was double and triple teamed throughout the afternoon. The 6-foot-7 monster was kept in check and ran away from most of the day, but he finally made a huge play by deflecting a punt that was returned by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="212363" first="Ashton" last="Moore"] </strong>deep inside MoKan territory