West Tennessee All-Star Game - South Linemen/Tight End 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 Offensive/Defensive Linemen and Tight Ends from the South Team.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Offensive/Defensive Linemen</h2>    Dunavant was the starter at Left Tackle on offense in the Centennial Bank West Tennessee All-Star Game. He also played his fair share of Defensive Tackle in the tilt, getting his first taste of the other side of the ball on the North's second offensive possession. The Henderson County product is built more like a Guard than a tradition Offensive Tackle, but did a nice job on down blocks and did a pretty good job of picking off the next level of blockers as they scraped.     A starter on both sides of the ball--at Right Tackle on offense and Defensive Tackle on defense--Murphy showed a quick get off the snap. Despite being one of the shorter linemen in the Centennial Bank West Tennessee All-Star Game, he used leverage and power in his compact frame to make it a long day for the opposition. In a synopsis of his play during the game, it literally took just a few seconds to see how active he would go on to be, as Murphy recovered a North Fumble on the first play of the game to seize possession for the South team. If that wasn't proof enough, he would recover his second fumble of the game on the first defensive snap of the second half. Murphy was also unofficially in on 1.5 tackles for loss, as well.     A team captain and starter at Defensive Tackle, McLucas was unquestionably the largest human on the field for the South Team in terms of height and weight--including the coaching staff. The big man demanded a double team on many plays, yet was still clogging up the middle and disrupting the timing of the offense on running plays to the tune of 2.5 tackles for loss on the day (unofficially). On the other side of the ball, McLucas saw time at Left Tackle and did a good job of creating space for his team. Also moved significantly better than I anticipated he would, in terms of climbing the ladder to the next level. For proof of that, he picked up the two point conversion as a Fullback following the South Team's first score.     Bedwell wasn't a starter on either side of the ball, but the Lexington Middle School prospect quickly caught my eye when he went in. On the South Team's second offensive possession, his first action of the contest, Bedwell got into the chest of the North defensive linemen and blocked them to-and-through the whistle on the first two plays. Taking his reps at Left Guard, he was a relentless run blocker up front and irritated the the North's front seven on several plays throughout the Centennial Bank West Tennessee All-Star Game     In an up-and-down, back-and-forth type of ball game, I saw some encouraging thing from Hardin County's [player_tooltip player_id='1549853' first='Paxton' last='Nobles']. Nobles got the start at Right Guard on offense, lining up next to his teammate from the regular season, [player_tooltip player_id='1549638' first='Caden' last='Murphy']. Nobles was a player I noticed during warmups because he appears to have pretty good size. He wasn't asked to do too much, given the short time the O-Line had to gel together, however he did a pretty nice job of picking up blitzes up the middle. He also got some burn on the defensive side of the ball in somewhat obvious running situations, as a huge Mike Linebacker. With that said, his future looks to be on the line on both sides of the ball.     The starter for the South Team at Left Guard on offense and Defensive End on defense, Decatur County Middle Schooler [player_tooltip player_id='1549935' first='Knox' last='Spence'] lived every lineman's dream by rumbling 42-yards on a scoop-and-score for a touchdown. Becoming Johnny-On-The-Spot after Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1549724' first='Isaiah' last='Bingham']'s sack and forced fumble, Spence took the fumble back all the way to put the South Team up 16-6 with 1:16 left in the third quarter.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tight End</h2>    Unless I missed it, [player_tooltip player_id='1549689' first='Riley' last='Ford'] didn't see his first action in the game until the 4:04 mark of the first quarter; However, the 5-foot-9, 200-pound prospect out of Huntingdon Middle School absolutely brought it as a blocking Tight End. On his first two plays of the game the South Team ran behind his side and picked up a pair of rushing first downs, while he drove his man back five and seven yards, respectively. That hard-fought drive resulted in the South's first points of the game, as the first Quarter neared its conclusion. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention he had a pair of grabs and was target a total of four times. Defensively, Ford made his presence felt with a sack (along with Wylie Evans) with just under four minutes left in the opening half.     In any All-Star Game the defense typically has the advantage because all 11 on that side of the ball are attacking forward or guarding against. On the offensive side, where Anderson started at Tight End, it's significantly tougher because so much is built on timing and rhythm. Anderson spent the overwhelming majority of this game as a blocking Tight End and did a commendable job. When his number was called on a passing play near the halfway mark of the third quarter, the bruising athlete broke a couple tackles and picked up a big first down for the South Team.

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 Offensive/Defensive Linemen and Tight Ends from the South Team.