West Tennessee All-Star Game - South D-Back/Linebacker Headliners

In a memorable Centennial Bank West Tennessee Middle School All-Star Game this past weekend at West Carroll High School, the North Team out-slugged the South Team 18-16. There were a bunch of memorable plays on both sides, but the North Team came from behind to claim the title. Nonetheless, here are the standout Defensive Backs and Linebackers from the South Team.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Defensive Backs</h2>    A starter on both sides of the ball--Quarterback on offense and Safety on defense, my biggest take away while watching and evaluating the Centennial Bank West Tennessee All-Star Game was the toughness Wilson brings to the field. He personified this late in the first quarter when he came screaming downhill from the Safety position and took out the knees of talented Union City Running Back B.J. Boyd, stopping the North Team on an important third down. Wilson would continue to show excellent closing speed and a willingness to come up and get physical in the box throughout the game. He ended the game (unofficially) with six tackles. Also did everything he could with his legs to help the South Team offensively, highlighted by a 32-yard scamper late in the fourth.     While he did appear to be the smallest kid (pound-for-pound) in the game, don't tell that to Easton Hensley or anyone else on the South Team. In a tight game that featured a lot of old school ground and pound play, Hensley was one prospect on the outside that the South Team tried to get going. A starter at Cornerback and with plentiful reps at Wide Receiver, he was targeted a few times offensively and had a rushing attempt on an end-around. Defensively he was in a few stops too. He unfortunately gave up a big-gainer with under a minute left in the third quarter, and while coverage and positioning was on point, he simply lost a jump ball to a taller kid. Nonetheless, while his play didn't necessarily show up in the stats book, it was clear he was a focal point.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Linebacker</h2>    Linden Middle School's [player_tooltip player_id='1549664' first='Jordan' last='Warren'] was one of the prospects that quickly stood out to me during pre-game warmups. Passing the eye test right away in terms of build, size and movement, it came as little surprise when he was a starter on both sides of the ball for the South Team (Wide Receiver and Outside Linebacker). As an Outside Linebacker, with the white streamer towel he was wearing flipping in the wind, he chased down whoever had the ball on offense. On one of his best plays of the day, late in the opening quarter he blitzed untouched off the Right Tackle's shoulder and sacked the North Team QB, forcing a punt. Furthermore, the athletic OLB also was in on the tackle for two of the North Team's two-point conversion attempts.     Like [player_tooltip player_id='1549664' first='Jordan' last='Warren'] listed above, Bingham was another prospect who caught my eye early during warmups because he passed the eye test right away. Without the benefit of knowing what went happened at practice during the week, I was a little surprised Bingham didn't start on either side of the ball. I don't know much about Bingham as an athlete and while he looks very raw in terms of football fundamentals, he showed up HUGE for the South Team. The impressive looking Outside Linebacker completely took over the game during springs. On the last two plays of the opening quarter, he recorded a sack and a tackle for a 10-yard loss on consecutive plays. Then, late in the second quarter, he mimicked his first quarter heroics with a QB pressure on second down and a devastating sack off a blitz on third down with 1:08 left in the half. Bingham wasn't finished either. On a huge fourth down play with 1:26 left in the third quarter, he again blitzed and hit the North Team Quarterback, resulting in a scoop-and-score by [player_tooltip player_id='1549935' first='Knox' last='Spence'] to put the South Team up 16-6.     Looking at these Linebackers from the South Team, I guess the old saying of, "Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern", rings true because Jones is another one that caught my eye before the game even started. A starter on both sides of the ball, he quietly did his job for the bulk of the opening half as a blocking Wide Receiver/Tight End on offense and Outside Linebacker on defense. Then, halfway through the second quarter he struck like a snake. Sacking the quarterback on first down, making a great tackle on the the far boundary on second down and hitting the QB's elbow to cause an errant throw on third down.     In a case of better late than never, Hardin County Outside Linebacker seemingly came out of nowhere in the fourth quarter to jump on my radar. The first time I saw the maroon jersey with #13 on the back make a play was late in the third quarter, when Murphy and Avery Holmes combined to make a nice stop for loss on a 1st and 10 play. Then, later in the fourth quarter, Murphy and his Cardin County teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1549724' first='Isaiah' last='Bingham'] merged from their respective Outside Linebacker spots for another tackle for loss. Murphy's final standout play actually came on the last play of the Centennial Bank West Tennessee All-Star Game, when he recorded his third stop behind the line of scrimmage of the second half/game.

In a memorable Centennial Bank West Tennessee Middle School All-Star Game this past weekend at West Carroll High School, the North Team out-slugged the South Team 18-16. There were a bunch of memorable plays on both sides, but the North Team came from behind to claim the title. Nonetheless, here are the standout Defensive Backs and Linebackers from the South Team.