Louisiana standouts, eye-catchers from Battle New Orleans 2023

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top teams and talent from coast to coast made the annual trip to the Battle New Orleans 7-on-7 tournament this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Florida-based Raw claimed the crown in overtime of Sunday evening's title game, but a slew of Louisiana representatives held their own and had their moments, including a couple solid bracket runs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here were a few standouts and notes from five of the best home-state squads and a couple quick additions on a few relevant out-of-state prospects.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BOOTLEGGERS STARS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The group often considered the "home team" for the event came out the gates firing to an eye-popping 59-0 victory Saturday — the weekend's largest margin of victory by any squad by a mile — before slumping to a lackadaisical and out-of-sync 2-2 rest of the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Injuries to 2024 defensive backs <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139495' first='Kyle' last='Williams']</strong> of Northshore and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139494' first='Xavier' last='McGlothan']</strong> of Calvary Baptist didn't help matters. Williams, in particular, was among the team's top performers in the dominant opener with both a leaping, stretching interception on defense and a long touchdown catch on offense before limping to the sideline in clear pain. And McGlothan had an early leaping snatch on defense, but aggravated his hamstring and sat the rest of the weekend to be safe.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rising senior safeties <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145363' first='Landon' last='Sylvie']</strong> of Calvary Baptist and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144887' first='Tony' last='Burns']</strong> of University Lab were again standouts on that side of the ball, including an interception each in the first round of bracket play Sunday to help regain a lead and then seal the victory, respectively. And long, rangy 2025 Captain Shreve athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144898' first='Tre' last='Fuller']</strong>, increasingly looking like one of the state's top prospects in his class, looked good in his second tournament working into the rotation with that duo. Long, lean 2024 John F. Kennedy cornerback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285193' first='Bernard' last='Causey']</strong>, enjoying a recent string of notable scholarship offers, made some strong breaks and deflections on passes anywhere in his vicinity and had an acrobatic leaping touchdown grab in the opener before being called for a push off.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Most of the offensive firepower came from out-of-state teammates and in particular a Mississippi group of Damari Jefferson, Daniel Hill, Noreel White and Gavin Brown. But 2025 St. Martin's running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291097' first='Harlem' last='Berry']</strong> looked good early Saturday with his route-running and yards-after on a couple catches, including a loud touchdown on which he eluded a tag and broke away. Rising East Ascension senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139480' first='Brennon' last='Thompson']</strong> made three timely catches, including a touchdown and two-point conversion. Rising Helen Cox senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='421653' first='Darnell' last='O'Quinn']</strong> made a couple nice catches in his Bootleggers debut. And running backs <strong>Jason Gabriel Jr.</strong>, a 2024 at John Curtis, and <strong>Nate Sheppard</strong>, a 2025 at Mandeville each found the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BOOTLEGGERS NORTH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last Louisiana's team standing was the Shreveport-based northern branch of the Bootleggers' organization with a heavy contingent of Calvary Baptist teammates helping lead an undefeated run to the quarterfinals before running into a star-studded, coast-to-coast California Power. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bootleggers North mounted a few impressive comebacks in the final seconds of both pool- and bracket-play action, with a poised 2025 quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144901' first='Abram' last='Wardell']</strong> leading the offense efficiently and methodically down the field — particularly to leading targets <strong>James Simon</strong> (2025), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291081' first='Kolby' last='Thomas']</strong> (2025) and <strong>John Simon</strong> (2024) — for game-winning touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James Simon, a new LSU running back target in an impressive 2025 Louisiana class at the position, was among the most consistently impressive performers throughout the weekend with the way he ran — before and after catches — at his size and went up over defenders, sometimes two at a time, to make acrobatic grabs. Thomas seemed to live open much of the weekend with his explosive breaks free of defenders across the middle for nice catch-and-run plays or deep for nice over-the-shoulder vertical plays. And John "Jay" Simon had a knack for finding just enough space, particularly in the end zone for touchdowns and conversions, to make great contested catches to rack up points or fresh sets of downs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another rising junior, athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144896' first='Julius' last='Moss']</strong>, was a quick, communicative leader in the middle of the defense, often flashing blitz to throw opposing quarterbacks off-balance from the snap and then getting back into position in coverage with his sharp change-of-direction and typically strong instincts and reads. And underrated rising senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285201' first='Detravon' last='Davis']</strong> had a strong weekend at corner, spending time in each side of the field, locking down top opposing receivers and racking up pass break-ups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of the team's top performances from non-Calvary players also came on the defensive tide of the ball with Ruston athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1202538' first='Logan' last='Malone']</strong>, predominantly a receiver for the Bearcats, and Franklin Parish athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='681280' first='Javion' last='White']</strong> both makes their share of huge plays, including a game-sealing interception by White to advance past Miami Immortals to the quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>F3 ELITE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another quarterfinalist from the home state, F3's Team Juice featured some big-time performances by two of the biggest prospects on its talented roster. Denham Springs safety <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='675887' first='Da'Shawn' last='McBryde']</strong>, the No. 10 prospect in the new Prep Redzone Louisiana 2024 rankings, snatched a few interceptions in living up to his ballhawking defensive reputation and made some huge catches downfield as one of the team's tallest targets on offense. And University Lab linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144905' first='Keylan' last='Moses']</strong>, the top-ranked prospect on the latest 2025 list, ran smoothly as the biggest player on the field with small, quick receivers and broke up passes all over the middle of the field from short to deep. And Woodlawn (Baton Rouge) corner <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='675901' first='Tyler' last='Knox']</strong> snatched a leaping end-zone interception to help showcase his playmaking ability in a secondary full of high-profile prospects.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rising junior Zachary quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291087' first='Caleb' last='Gonzales']</strong> had an impressive weekend with major snaps leading the offense. He took what opposing defenses gave him, made few mistakes, excelled finding his targets in tight windows near the goal line and made a number of nice throws all over the field on roll-outs. A trio of University Lab teammates in 2024 receivers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285207' first='Granville' last='Anderson II']</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='285208' first='Seth' last='Gale'] and 2025 receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='148530' first='Zay' last='Martin']</strong>, as well as 2025 Madison Prep receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145331' first='Semaj' last='Pierre']</strong>, gave Gonzales and rising senior Catholic (Baton Rouge) quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139258' first='Daniel' last='Beale']</strong> a slew of quick options all over the field with McBryde, 2024 Zachary receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139489' first='Luke' last='Wisham']</strong> and 2025 Catholic (BR) receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291082' first='Amari' last='Clayton']</strong> as the big bodies primarily on the outside. Anderson is a consistent go-to guy who seems to work his way open on almost every play and catches almost everything his direction. And Gale provided a highlight with a diving back-of-the-end-zone catch during a back-and-forth matchup in bracket play. Speedy rising junior Port Allen athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291100' first='Brennan' last='Gibson']</strong> has also started to make a name for himself as part of that smaller, quicker group for the team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NOLA HOTBOY$</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Underrated 2024 Edna Karr cornerback <strong>Shavez Morris</strong> was again a standout for a solid NOLA HotBoy$ defense headlined by high-profile 2024 prospects <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139477' first='Wardell' last='Mack']</strong> of John Ehret on the opposite corner and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285271' first='Anthony' last='Robinson III']</strong> of Destrehan on the inside. Morris shadowed some top receivers from around the country, who praised him as as arguably their toughest matchup of the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And 2024 Salmen quarterback <strong>Cam Dorsey</strong> had a slew of track-fast receiving options to work with on offense, led by 2024 John Curtis standout <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139627' first='Michael' last='Turner'] Jr.</strong>, the 2025 Destrehan duo of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='291153' first='Johnnie' last='Thiel IV']</strong> and <strong>Phillip Wright</strong> and big 2024 West Jefferson pass-catcher <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='421609' first='Shaun' last='Nicholas']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BOOTLEGGERS BAYOU/RIVER</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Not unlike the Calvary Baptist chemistry for the Bootleggers North, the St. James connection between quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285279' first='Brayden' last='Williams']</strong> and shifty receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='285273' first='Kobe' last='Brown']</strong> was once again a focal point for Bayou/River offense with a nice complement from St. Augustine tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='421605' first='Hubert' last='Caliste']</strong>, who added a big, athletic target not only in the end zone but on some deep shots downfield. And West St. John cornerback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139625' first='Kylin' last='Smith']</strong> provided one of the defensive highlights with an interception of Notre Dame-committed Michigan quarterback C.J. Carr that helped provide an early momentum boost in a back-and-forth bracket matchup before the high-profile California Power managed to come back and claim the victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OTHER OUT-OF-STATE QUICK HITS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Linebacker Xavier Atkins, the No. 1 prospect in Prep Redzone Louisiana's original 2024 rankings, was back in his home state after his transfer earlier this year to Summer Creek outside of Houston. And the now-former Jonesboro-Hodge star looked great in coverage with his impressive speed and quick-twitch for his size.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Former John Ehret standout Raemon Mosby, another top prospect early in the development of Louisiana's 2024 class, was back in his hometown for the first time since last summer. Now in his second year at Westlake in Atlanta, he has garnered a strong run of scholarship offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The trophy-winning Raw team featured a number of prospects of note to Louisiana college fans — including 2024 New York tight end Korey "K.J." Duff Jr., who earned a Tulane offer on the trip, and 2025 Florida receiver and athlete Naeshaun Montgomery, who earned an LSU offer. Two of the top defensive standouts on the team, 2024 Florida cornerback Ellis Robinson IV and 2025 Alabama safety Anquan Fegans, also hold LSU among their most notable offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And LSU quarterback Colin Hurley had another strong weekend with 24K, including his connection with highly touted 2024 Alabama wide receiver Cameron Coleman, who was among the event's top performers for the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->