Fire vs. Ice Game: Team Ice Linemen Practice Standouts

The first ever Fire vs. Ice All-American Game took place over the weekend of November 9-10th, and it featured a ton of prospects with big high school and college futures. With some athletes already holding scholarship offers on both Team Fire and Ice, many of the Eastern TN studs were out to play. Here's a look at the linemen that stood out at practice on Team Ice.    The top offensive lineman not only on Team Ice, but in my opinion, the top offensive lineman on either team in the inaugural Fire vs. Ice Game. It's hard to call players on the pre-high school level "complete" but I did not see a single bad rep, lazy play or bad decision throughout either practice from Gonzalez on the offensive side of the ball. While he also would go on to get the start at Defensive Tackle in the game as well, his play at Left Tackle was nothing shorter of stellar. Plays big and mean. Finishes blocks. Has enough quickness to get up to the next level and cut off backside linebackers trying to make plays across the field. He put on a clinic.     Just two weeks after reporting his first verbal offer from Hampton University, it was good to check out [player_tooltip player_id='1355869' first='Jamil' last='Thompson'] in person. Please believe that he is every bit of the 6-foot-4 and 300-pounds that he's listed at. The starter at Right Tackle come game time, that looks to be a perfect fit for Thompson in terms of allowing his attributes to be on display. Comes with incredibly long arms--quite literally all 10 finger tips hang down to his knees. On top of physical gifts, I got the sense that he's incredibly intelligent kid--which was later confirmed by coaches telling me he has long term aspirations of working in aerospace engineering. Once his mean streak comes out and he shows that "dog in him", there should be no shortage of schools looking for a kid that gets it done in multiple sports and in the classroom.     A third Webb School of Knoxville lineman and second Gonzalez brother in this write up, [player_tooltip player_id='1537346' first='Brayden' last='Gonzalez'] was as-advertised throughout the practices. The starter at both Center and Defensive Tackle, he was a model of consistency during practice. It gets taken for granted way more than it should be, but I didn't see a single bad snap from him during practice; Nor did I see one when live bullets were flying in in a live session against Team Fire. He fired the ball back to the QB's numbers nearly every time and did not show lazy feet as he made quick, choppy steps post-snap. His feet allowed him to block down into both A Gaps with relative ease.     The eventual start at Right Guard, Ensworth's [player_tooltip player_id='1555070' first='Christian' last='Harris'] was a new name and face to me. Ahead of the game, I knew about the plethora of skill players that Ensworth had this season--[player_tooltip player_id='1537396' first='Maddox' last='Porter'], [player_tooltip player_id='424644' first='Kam' last='Morton'], [player_tooltip player_id='1554766' first='Kendall' last='Rucker'], etc.--but seeing Harris play too, was exciting. I instantly took a liking to his build, as Harris has a huge lower body and can generate a ton of power firing out of his stance. On top of his lower body power, he also appeared to have long arms and longer, thinner legs for being a 2029 line prospect. I'm not sure on his size, but he has to be in the 6-foot-1, 250-pound range, if I had to guess. There's a lot of potential and upside here.     The lone class of 2030 prospect (currently in seventh-grade) to start on both sides of the ball, [player_tooltip player_id='1152156' first='Eli' last='Wolfe'] is a name to know going forward. He wasn't at the first practice of the day, but was a welcomed addition at the second practice on Saturday. He's a stout, thick kid who's built like an old refrigerator. The Austin East prospect possesses, and showed off unbelievable strength. He would eventually go on to start at Left Guard and at Defensive End in the game, but his start at Defensive End was only because of the Gonzalez brother were manning the D-Tackle spots. Make no bones about it, he's an interior guy on both sides of the ball and should be one of the top Tennessee OL/DL in the class of 2030.     Unassumingly and quietly, I liked what I saw out of [player_tooltip player_id='1555072' first='Luke' last='Cavin'] as an Edge rusher during both practices on Saturday. While he obviously didn't have the size of some of the other behemoths on Team Fire, Cavin brought some athleticism coming off the edge. He was quick to shoot his hands and used pure speed coming off the edge, forcing the Offensive Tackles to move their feet quickly. I didn't notice much bend when trying to get into the backfield, so adding that will become important as he progresses through the next few years.

The first ever Fire vs. Ice All-American Game took place over the weekend of November 9-10th, and it featured a ton of prospects with big high school and college futures. With some athletes already holding scholarship offers on both Team Fire and Ice, many of the Eastern TN studs were out to play. Here's a look at the linemen that stood out at practice on Team Ice.