WHAT WE SAW: CCU’s Ball At The Beach 7-On-7

While we already highlighted some of the reasons Spartanburg won <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/06/jeter-leads-spartanburg-to-ball-at-the-beach-7-on-7-championship/">Coastal Carolina’s Ball at the Beach 7-on-7 tournament</a> on Thursday, it was clear from the get-go that [player_tooltip player_id="89339" first="Raheim" last="Jeter"] and Co. weren’t the only reason the event was held. That wasn’t much of a surprise, as the 12 invited teams all had players CCU’s on-hand coaching staff was wanting to evaluate in person. Obviously, we weren’t privy to which guys the Chants’ coaches were looking at, but we did see standouts all day. <strong>THE SURPRISE</strong> West Florence earned the No. 1 seed for tournament play via its pool play run and made it to the semis before losing to Winter Park. There wasn’t any way to disguise the Knights’ success Thursday, especially given that this is normally a run-first team. We chalked it up to <strong>Franklin Emerson</strong>. You know, West Florence’s best linebacker. Only thing was, he was playing quarterback.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> After normal starter [player_tooltip player_id="336138" first="Deuce" last="Hudson"] (illness) was unable to go more than the team’s first couple sessions, Emerson came in and went off. He was airing out deep balls with precision and had some serious pop on his mid-range passes. Not bad for a back-up signal caller who threw all of seven pass attempts last season. Emerson wasn’t trying to create some sort of a quarterback controversy. For starters, Hudson has already proved he can run this offense pretty darn well. Also, Emerson is a priority at linebacker. Last year, he led the Knights with 107 tackles (80 solo, 54 assisted) to go along with all sorts of other high-impact numbers. During Ball at the Beach, he played both ways for the majority of the day, all the while showing that West has one heck of a back-up plan should it ever require it. <strong>AROUND BALL AT THE BEACH</strong> Passing leagues like this one tend to favor the quarterbacks. They don’t have to worry about a blitz, and scanning for receivers is much easier without linemen in front of you. Regardless, we took note of a few quarterbacks who have made some strides since last season. Conway’s [player_tooltip player_id="208332" first="Devin" last="Grainger"] (pictured) is going to be spreading the ball around much more this season now that all-star receiver Carlton Terry II is off to Wofford. He’s going to be targeting <strong>Cameron Alston</strong>, <strong>Jamarious Woodbury</strong> and <strong>Aiden Brantley</strong> with much more consistency, and Grainger showed he has no issue scanning into his reads. Much like Jeter, South Florence quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="146356" first="LaNorris" last="Sellers"] is also coming back from an injury (albeit, an on-field one). Sellers’ arm strength isn’t questionable. On one throw toward the back end of pool play, he hit a receiver in the chest with a ball, and the receiver let out an audible gasp for air. The Syracuse commit has been in the weight room since getting cleared from shoulder surgery, and it showed. Clover’s [player_tooltip player_id="202766" first="Joe" last="Boyd"] and Goose Creek’s [player_tooltip player_id="91143" first="Drew" last="Moore"] also had solid showings, although they exited the tournament phase earlier than they’d hoped. Myrtle Beach receiver [player_tooltip player_id="272701" first="Jon" last="Simmons"] had what might have been the catch of the day off a pool-play pass from Wyatt Cannon. Simmons, the No. 4 player in the Prep Red Zone Class of 2025 rankings, got behind a defender on a deep route, fended him off with his right arm and then made a one-handed catch at the brink of the end zone with his left. West Florence receivers <strong>Trevor Milliken</strong> and <strong>Stephen Smalls</strong> were also a hot pair Thursday, making a few nifty grabs from Emerson. On the flip side of the field, we’d be remiss to not mention South Florence corner <strong>Kemonte Rose</strong>. He might be the next fleet-footed Bruins defensive back on a team loaded with all sorts of speed. Rose notched a pair of interceptions, including one off a throw from Spartanburg’s Jeter during the semifinals. On the play, he had to think fast and move faster.