15 Standouts From CLT Kickoff Night

CLT Kickoff Night is an annual doubleheader hosted at American Legion Memorial Stadium in downtown Charlotte. This year, JM Robinson played Myers Park in Game 1, and Butler played Olympic in Game 2. Myers Park was victorious over JM Robinson 37-6 in Game 1, and Butler came back with a strong 4th quarter and defeated Olympic 32-14 in Game 2. There were several players who stood out in these games, and we'll talk about them here.    Lewis was a man amongst boys on this field Saturday evening. He was everywhere - running plays down from the backside in the running game, consistently putting pressure on the quarterback in the passing game, and showing his emotions on multiple occasions, keeping himself and his defense motivated to play well throughout the game. We don't have official stats, but I'm sure Lewis would be in double-digit tackles for this one.     The Duke commit had one of the highlight plays of the game, where he won a jump ball in single coverage in the corner of the end zone and had an impressive catch at the high point, making the play go viral on social media. It is evident once again that leaving Keefe in single coverage is a high-risk proposal for defenses.     Josh had a strong game overall, with two rushing touchdowns - one of them being for at least 50 yards. Josh showed some impressive speed and vision, and he runs with some nice pop and power in the interior run game in spite of his smaller stature. By the play count, it definitely appears Josh will get his opportunities as the RB1 for this Mustangs offense, and he could have a really big statistical year because of that.     I have been high on Thrasher, and he played a strong game on Saturday in the middle of his defense. I have several pictures of him in the mix on interior run plays, and the vast majority of the time, he's shutting them down for minimal yardage. On top of that, Hank was able to get an interception and return it for a touchdown - showing that he can be a true 3-down linebacker this season.     Chaz got the game started with a bang, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown and giving the Mustangs a lead that they would never relinquish. Chaz didn't see a ton of opportunities in the passing game, but with the margin of the game and the running game working well, Chaz wasn't needed as much there. In future games, pairing with [player_tooltip player_id='832280' first='Brody' last='Keefe'] should bode well for the Mustangs' offense.     Landen scored the only touchdown of the game for the Bulldogs on a nice tight end dump play off of playaction down near the goalline. But I also thought that Landen was active at his EDGE position, and it looks like he's stronger and quicker overall. I expect once Landen gets into conference and classification play, he's going to be dominant this season.     There wasn't one play that stood out to me about Isaiah, but it was more about the way he played this game and his leadership. Even being a sophomore, every play I noticed him giving maximum effort, whether it was on defense or offense. On two offside penalties, he got on his teammates about it and wasn't afraid to take charge. Those are signs of a future leader, and he's got the talent to go with it.     Da'mourion had a strong game for the Bulldogs, running for two touchdowns and 155 yards. His first touchdown was impressive, a stretch play off the left side of the offense where he was able to turn the corner and then hit the sideline with a strong burst of speed, and he was not getting caught from behind by anyone. Thomas-Wright appears to be a feature back in Butler's multiple-set offense this season, and Head Coach Brian Hales will find ways to keep getting him loose.     Tyler looked like a general operating the Bulldogs' offense - a lot of it involves changing tempo and a good bit of "check with me" calls at the line of scrimmage, and it takes a smart player to operate an offense like that. Tyler made it look easy and scored on a touchdown run of his own. Tyler also threw a touchdown pass to a teammate, Lucas Culberson, from 69 yards out in the first half.     Kenyan, I thought, did a good job of playing his responsibilities on both sides of the ball in this one. Defensively, they were facing a much different scheme than they possibly anticipated coming into the game, so after making some halftime adjustments, they were able to shut the Trojans out in the 2nd half. Kenyan also played some offense as an H-Back, and I thought he had some nice blocks in those offensive sets.     I would bet that Lej'end probably ended up with double-digit tackles in this game, because that's all I kept hearing when the Bulldogs were on defense. Even though he is a sophomore, Lej'end will have to step up and be a defensive leader this season. Saturday Night was a good start. I liked his speed and ability to scrape to make tackles in the run game, especially.     Pushed into quarterback duty due to injury, I was really impressed with Zahir. He ended the game rushing for 147 yards and really gave Butler fits with his running from the quarterback spot. Zahir got a chance to show his speed and athleticism, and I think because of this success, the Trojans may use this scheme a little more than they anticipated with a returning senior quarterback in tow.     Known as a linebacker first, typically, I was impressed with what Bryce did from the running back position on Saturday Night, complementing his teammate Zahir on the ground. Both he and Zahir had the Bulldogs really struggling to contain the run, as Bryce had a nice touchdown run from about 10 yards out. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how the Trojans balance using Bryce on both sides of the ball.     Coming over from Berry High School, Jacoby made a nice first impression for the Trojans, scoring on a 25-yard screen pass from his teammate Zahir Smith. What I really liked about the play was that it was to the short side of the field, and Jacoby caught the ball and got straight north/south. It was impressive that he was able to stay in bounds, and I can tell that was something that was repped the exact same way in practice. Jacoby flashed some good speed and vision along with that play as well.

CLT Kickoff Night is an annual doubleheader hosted at American Legion Memorial Stadium in downtown Charlotte. This year, JM Robinson played Myers Park in Game 1, and Butler played Olympic in Game 2. Myers Park was victorious over JM Robinson 37-6 in Game 1, and Butler came back with a strong 4th quarter and defeated Olympic 32-14 in Game 2. There were several players who stood out in these games, and we'll talk about them here.