St. Dominic 7 on 7 Tournament: Standouts

The St. Dominic 7 on 7 Tournament on Friday, July 15, included some of the better programs from throughout the St. Louis area with Troy Buchanan, Rockwood Summit, Lafayette, Chaminade, Fort Zumwalt West and the host Crusaders, as well as a young but talented Hickman squad, which traveled from Columbia for the tournament. In the end it was Lafayette that knocked off Summit in the semifinals and Troy Buchanan in the championship game to take the title. Summit defeated Chaminade in the third-place game. Here is a quick look at some of the players we noticed on Friday: <strong>2023s</strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">DB [player_tooltip player_id="263302" first="Derek" last="Fields Jr"], Chaminade</span></strong> We didn’t get to see a lot of Fields, who committed to Ball State a few weeks ago, but we liked what we saw of him playing cornerback and wide receiver on Friday. An all-conference selection as a junior last season, Fields has good speed and decent size and has a bright future this fall and in the future at Ball State. <strong>DB [player_tooltip player_id="308609" first="Caleb" last="Lochmann"], Lafayette</strong> Lochmann has received some interest from colleges and recently received his first scholarship offer from Culver-Stockton, but this 6-foot-2, 180-pound safety may be one of the best sleeper prospects we’ve seen in Missouri this offseason. Lancers coach Boyd Manne said Lochmann has lived in the weight room since the end of his junior season and the results are showing. He’s got good size and athleticism and more college coaches should take a long look at him this fall. <strong>WR [player_tooltip player_id="385100" first="Lebron" last="Mathews"], Troy Buchanan</strong> The Trojans had one of the top wide receivers in Missouri a year ago when <strong>Nathan Ryan</strong> had a breakout campaign and it was during a 7 on 7 tournament at St. Dominic where we first noticed Ryan dominating against defensive backs. We’re not going to say Mathews will be as good as Ryan was, but after watching him make some big plays on Friday the athletic wide receiver is a breakout candidate this fall. Mathews had 16 receptions for 314 yards and added 98 rushing yards and three touchdowns as a junior. Troy has a good group of wideouts and we could see one or two guys step up and post big numbers. <strong>ATH [player_tooltip player_id="300321" first="Jackson" last="Overton"], St. Dominic</strong> We got a very limited glimpse of Overton on Friday, but we’ve been sold on his ability for a long time. He’s an undersized prospect, so while he’s been one of the best running backs in Missouri the past few seasons he’ll likely end up as a slot receiver at the next level who also has the ability to play some running back. He’s one of the quickest and fastest prospects in Missouri and has excelled against everyone he’s faced. <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="37718" first="Charos" last="Sutton"], Troy Buchanan</strong> We’d love to know Troy’s combined record in 7-on-7 tournaments over the past two years with Sutton leading the way. He was great last summer and he’s been phenomenal again this summer after a breakout junior season in 2021 when he led the Trojans to a 10-3 record and a spot in the Missouri Class 6 semifinals. Sutton threw for 2,314 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran for 1,090 and 18 scores. He’s not the biggest quarterback out there, but he’s without a doubt one of the best in Missouri. <strong>2024s</strong> <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="126261" first="Grant" last="Gibson"], Rockwood Summit</strong> If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the solidly-built Gibson is already a college quarterback. He’s one of the few high school quarterbacks we’ve seen in Missouri in a while who looks like he’s physically ready for college, but he’s still got two more seasons of high school football left. After transferring from run-heavy Fox to pass-happy Rockwood Summit earlier this year, we’re expecting a breakout season from Gibson this fall. He’s a guy college coaches should take a long look at. <strong>ATH [player_tooltip player_id="126202" first="Darius" last="(DJ) Jones"], Fort Zumwalt West</strong> Jones has proven over the past two years he’s one of the quickest and fastest athletes in Missouri and his on-field production — 1,002 total yards (514 rushing, 488 receiving) and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2021 — backs up the explosiveness he’s showed in testing at combines and camps. He’s a versatile player who can play running back or slot receiver and is a playmaker whenever he has the ball in his hands. Whenever we saw him on Friday he was running past and around defenders to get in the end zone. <strong>ATH [player_tooltip player_id="126216" first="Zae" last="Jones"], Lafayette</strong> Jones did a little bit of everything for the Lancers during his breakout sophomore campaign a year ago — running, catching, throwing, returning kicks and punts and playing some defense — when he racked up more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and scored a team-high 14 touchdowns. He’s probably a running back or slot receiver at the next level because of his size, but he’s a dynamic playmaker wherever you put him and will be a problem for opposing high school defenses for two more seasons. <strong>LB [player_tooltip player_id="385094" first="Elijah" last="Morton"], Hickman</strong> We didn’t get to watch much of Morton but he’s an impressive-looking linebacker with good size at 6-feet-1 and 210 pounds. Kewpies coach Cedric Alvis said he’s already getting looks from Iowa and Iowa State along with some FCS schools. Morton racked up 77 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one interception as a sophomore last fall. <strong>2025s</strong> <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="326615" first="Carter" last="Holliday"], Hickman</strong> Holliday already looks the part of a college prospect with decent size for the quarterback position and had a nice day leading a young Kewpies squad. He’s had some early success at the varsity level, but he’ll likely have the ups and downs that come with that position as an underclassman. When you see him out there it’s easy to forget he’s only a 2025 prospect. <strong>ATH [player_tooltip player_id="285169" first="Robby" last="Preckel"], Lafayette</strong> We’ve heard good things about Preckel and like his potential as a linebacker (and/or tight end if he’s still growing). We didn’t see a lot of him on Friday but we we liked what we saw. He looks like a player to watch for the next three seasons after getting some experience at the varsity level as a freshman. &nbsp;