Fire vs. Ice Game: Team Ice Skill Position 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 practice standouts from Team Ice.    I loved what I saw out of Tritch during both the practices on Saturday, leading up to the Fire vs. Ice All-American Game. It was iron sharpening iron throughout the practices, as Tritch was one of the standouts on a team with talent at the skill positions that would rival any All-Star team in the country. Both at Wide Receiver and Safety, Tritch looked very sharp--but particularly at the Wide Receiver position. He passes the eye test right away with a high school-ready build and all the physical tools necessary for Friday nights. Nearly every skill position player in the game was "in shape", but I didn't see Tritch look tired at all--despite all the work. The Oakland Middle Schooler was extremely consistent throughout the weekend.     Different. [player_tooltip player_id='424644' first='Kam' last='Morton'] is different. I hope the Ensworth Quarterback iced down his right shoulder because he threw pass, after pass, after pass during the first practice on Saturday because he was the lone QB there for Team Ice. With each ball being prettier than the next, he put on a clinic. During one portion of the early practice, he was working on ball placement with his Wide Receivers and threw 10 or so back-shoulder passes that no Defensive Back on the pre-high school level could defend. During the night practice on Saturday, the compact, muscular QB also put his dual-threat ability on display. He's a tough kid to defend against because he absolutely looks to throw the ball first and because of his arm talent, can hold on to the ball until nearly the last second before making a decision. If he can get up anywhere near the 6-foot mark that colleges view as the important height, he projects to have his choice of opportunities.     A new name to me, Grelyn Gordon showed me and a lot of other people that he's one heck of a football player on both sides of the ball. The lightbulb first went off for me while watching Gordon during Linebacker indy drills. He sported a decent build and I loved the way he came down hill and attacked the tackle tube, as oppose to waiting for "the right time". I also noticed that Gordon wasn't shy about asking questions, which showed me he was there to learn and get better. Then, as a Running Back on offense, when Team Ice did some inside run drills he showed another side of his game. He displayed excellent vision and the ability to break tackles with a powerful running style. When he got going in open field, Gordon also showed off some pretty decent wheels too. He was one of several Webb School of Knoxville kids that really impressed me.     Until and if I see otherwise, this weekend [player_tooltip player_id='1537396' first='Maddox' last='Porter'] all but solidified his spot in my mind as the top 2029 Wide Receiver in the state of Tennessee. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder is just two weeks removed from receiving his first verbal offer from the University of Kentucky and I could see why immediately. With the added benefit of have his Ensworth teammate [player_tooltip player_id='424644' first='Kam' last='Morton'] throwing him the ball at QB, Porter made every catch look easy throughout the day. I took several videos of him releasing off the line and while watching it in slow motion, I loved how under control he was. Unlike majority of WR's at this level, he didn't dance around and do all the nonsense with his feet--he reacted to the CB's first movement and then got into his route. He caught everything with his hands and was head and shoulders above. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I was surprised at his ability on the defensive side of the ball too. Out at Cornerback, he's one of those bigger and longer Corners that is starting to trend at the FBS and NFL levels. While he deserves his flowers on defense too, I see him as a P4 Wide Receiver prospect all the way.     The third Ensworth prospect in this writeup, I liked the speed I saw out of [player_tooltip player_id='1554766' first='Kendall' last='Rucker'] throughout the practices. When I first got over to Team Ice's practice field, Rucker was doing individual drills with the Linebackers and I noted that he looked a little faster and more athletic than your typical Linebacker at this level--even jotting down in my notes "Strong Safety?". When the team then went to offensive drills, this is where I saw what Rucker was about. He showed off good speed as somewhat of a slot WR and was used in a number of different ways, including on End-arounds. He moved very well throughout the day on both sides of the ball and also got down field quickly on special teams, which showed me his effort.     Coming to the second practice of the day literally just hours after helping Bearden win a MAC Conference Championship, [player_tooltip player_id='1538993' first='Markise' last='Witt Jr.'] showed me exactly what I already know: pound for pound, he's one of the most special ATH's in the state of Tennessee for the class of 2029. Obviously a popular kid amongst coaches and teammates alike as well, his future is insanely bright on the gridiron. At practice, he took most of his reps as a Safety but also got plenty of burn as a Wide Receiver as well. That's on top proven ability as a Running Back. The younger brother of current University of Kentucky Linebacker Steven Soles Jr., Witt Jr. looks every bit on the same P4 trajectory as big bro was/is.     Alcoa Middle Schooler [player_tooltip player_id='1537158' first='NuKeise' last='Minor'] is going to be a good one. After a season which featured him doing everything he could as a dual-threat Quarterback and Safety, Minor was at the Fire vs. Ice All-American Game as a Wide Receiver and Safety. His height and length translates well to the WR/DB position and he looked particularly good as a Safety. He's on the thin side right now and will need to put some weight as high school ball approaches, but he's a good looking athlete and I have no reason to think he won't be up near at least 150 pounds within the next 6-8 months. Perhaps the most impressing and telling thing about Minor is when I asked him about what position(s) he thinks he'll be playing going forward. He responded with, "I'm an athlete and will play wherever they need me to play." Heck of a response to that question from an eighth-grader, who is one of the best multi-sport athletes in Blount County.     In somewhat of a quiet way, which is surprising given his talent on the field, [player_tooltip player_id='1305175' first='Maurice' last='Smith Jr.'] had a nice showing throughout the practices. After seeing him play this past June as a member of the Tennessee Future Stars, Smith Jr. appears to have put on a good 10 pounds of muscle over the last five months. He still has the long torso and legs that made him effective as Running Back, but I noticed some stronger shoulders on him too. An eventual starter at Outside Linebacker in the game, Smith Jr. did an excellent job of dropping back and playing in space during pass coverage drills. He looked very comfortable and understood spacing well. He also got his fair share of touches as a Running Back throughout the day too. There's a ton of upside here on both sides of the ball.     As mentioned above, the skill position group for Team Ice was extremely deep at the skill positions. Leavy was one of two Brighton Middle School prospects who made the trip all the way from Tipton County in West Tennessee to participate in the game. While Leavy does play Wide Receiver, he was one of the more pure Defensive Backs in the game. Blessed with height and size for the position(s) at this point, he did a nice job particularly at Safety. He covered a lot of ground in the two-high safety defense when going in the live period. With that said, he more than held his own during individual drills when he was playing out at Cornerback, lining up against the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='1538130' first='Luke' last='Tritch'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1537396' first='Maddox' last='Porter'] during one-on-one drills.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Others: </h2>   [player_tooltip player_id='1307084' first='Ace' last='Eschenburg'] | Athlete - One of a handful of 2030 prospects (current seventh-graders) on Team Ice, Eschenburg didn't look out of place in the least. The Lipscomb Academy prospect is the consummate athlete, taking the majority of his reps at Wide Receiver and Outside Linebacker. He's a very muscular kid for his age and has a skill set that will translate to multiple positions.   [player_tooltip player_id='1554811' first='Sammy' last='Steimer'] | Linebacker - Another Webb School of Knoxville prospect, Steimer unassumingly did a pretty good job as a Linebacker during the practices. Not as thick as some of the other kids at the position, but he showed a lot of balance and ability to get around blockers to get to the ball carrier. It's a skill I assume he's worked on while fighting through picks, as he's also a talented basketball player.   [player_tooltip player_id='1554800' first='Parker' last='Purnell'] | Linebacker - I got my first look at Purnell during the night practice on Saturday since he was busy helping Bearden win a MAC title earlier in the day. Obviously spends some time in the weight room and really looked strong as a Middle Linebacker. Came downhill hard and without knowing too much more about him outside of what I saw, it wouldn't shock me if he wrestled. Has that classic wrestler build and appeared to be a sure-tackler.   [player_tooltip player_id='1554799' first='Kannon' last='Sipe'] | Running Back - Yet another member of the championship-winning Bearden MAC team, Sipe seemed to make a play every time I saw him. A bigger kid than most of the other Running Backs, Sipe managed to get low while running and a did a nice job of exploding through the holes that were opened for him. Appeared to have good speed and quietly made a number of impressive runs when he got his touches during the night practice.

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 practice standouts from Team Ice.