15 Standouts From Hough vs South Pointe - Keep Pounding Classic

The Keep Pounding Classic held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte this past Friday Night was an incredible display of high school football! Four championship-level teams played two great games, showing why the Carolinas are a recruiting hotbed. The Hough Huskies defeated the South Pointe Stallions out of Rock Hill, South Carolina, 14-10 in comeback fashion. There are a number of places where you can see a detailed recap of the game; however, we're going to name 15 players in total who played well at this great event that had nearly 13,000 people in attendance overall.   South Pointe Stallions   #0 [player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] - This young man was incredible. He played well at defensive back, showing range and tackling ability in space - but his big claim to fame was coming in at quarterback and sparking his offense to get them going. South Carolina got a real good one here. He had 3 tackles on defense, along with 154 yards passing and a 14-yard touchdown run. He also had 50 yards rushing on 14 carries.   #1 [player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] - Malik didn't have a huge statistical game with 2 catches for 27 yards; however, he had a nice highlight catch off of a tipped pass that helped set up a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter for a brief 10-7 lead.   #8 [player_tooltip player_id='1036779' first='Kaiden' last='Watkins'] - I felt that Kaiden was the one receiver for the Stallions who was able to get consistent separation in the passing game to make some tough catches against the Huskies' man coverage. Kaiden finished with 4 catches for 41 yards.   #3 [player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] - Kadin was another good receiver for the Stallions who made some good catches in critical situations to keep the chains moving. He had one nice catch against zone coverage on the Stallions' sideline that converted a long 3rd down situation that was a standout play. He finished with 3 catches for 48 yards.   #32 Darien Judge - Darien led the Stallions in tackles with 9 total tackles, 7 solo tackles, and 3 tackles for loss. He was all over the field and impressive with his speed and reactive ability in diagnosing plays.   #23 [player_tooltip player_id='1591712' first='Seth' last='Tillman'] - It seemed like every other play, [player_tooltip player_id='1591712' first='Seth' last='Tillman']'s name was being called out for being in on a tackle. Impressive strength and quickness on the defensive line kept the Huskies' offense under wraps for most of the game. Seth finished with 7 tackles and 3 tackles for loss.   #33 [player_tooltip player_id='1594865' first='Brysen' last='Ginn'] - I thought Brysen did a good job of playing the EDGE position in this game. Even though he wasn't credited for a tackle for loss or a sack, I distinctly remember Brysen having a big stop to force the Huskies to punt when they were in South Pointe territory. Brysen finished the game with 4 tackles officially.   Hough Huskies   #1 [player_tooltip player_id='254550' first='Ethan' last='Royal'] - Named the player of the game by the Carolina Panthers, Ethan flexed his dual-threat ability well from the quarterback spot. Even though he only officially rushed for 24 yards on 9 carries, his scrambling ability kept the Huskies out of some potential big sacks, and he converted some nice throws outside the pocket. Royal had two touchdown runs as well as throwing for 121 passing yards.   #20 Marvin Reed - The Huskies played several running backs in his one, and I thought Marvin was the one who looked the best and most complete of the group. Marvin averaged 7 yards per carry and showed a nice combination of speed and power, particularly on outside zone plays.   #8 [player_tooltip player_id='945238' first='Tyran' last='Evans'] - The Miami commit came up huge in the clutch with a 40-yard reception on the Huskies' last drive in the 4th quarter, setting up QB [player_tooltip player_id='254550' first='Ethan' last='Royal']'s TD run for the victory. Tyran also had an impressive catch when he was hit hard over the middle by [player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] of South Pointe. Tyran finished with 69 yards on 3 catches.   #5 [player_tooltip player_id='950969' first='Ryan' last='Peterson'] - The talented sophomore linebacker showed why he's getting multiple Power 4 offers in this one, showing impressive tackling ability and speed in flowing to the football. Ryan finished the game with 12 tackles, including a tackle for loss. His play was a big reason why South Pointe really only moved the ball in the air for most of the game.   #4 [player_tooltip player_id='974827' first='LJ' last='Porter'] - LJ was Ryan's tag team partner in this one, as he was just impressive playing mostly from an inside linebacker position. LJ finished with 11 total tackles, 8 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack resulting in a 10-yard loss. I spoke with LJ after the game about his and his team's performance.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1959032811123323134 </div></figure>   #3 [player_tooltip player_id='1788073' first='Jackson' last='Heath'] - We added Jackson to our rankings in our last update, and he went out and validated that decision in an impressive way. From the secondary, Jackson was all over the field in both run support and playing pass coverage. Jackson finished with 6 tackles and a tackle for loss in the game.   #9 [player_tooltip player_id='284097' first='Samari' last='Matthews'] - The Texas commit had a big effect on the game, even though the stats may not show it because, as usual, South Pointe did not attack him in the air. The Huskies moved Matthews around a little bit as he played both some corner and safety in this one, and I thought that was interesting, because it shows Matthews can be versatile and be a real chess piece in future games against stronger opponents.   #75 [player_tooltip player_id='1158293' first='Jarvis' last='Potts'] - I was impressed with Potts, I thought he was the best offensive lineman the Huskies had on this day - and it was notable that when the Huskies did have some run game success, it came behind Potts almost exclusively. I thought he was strong in pass protection as well from his guard position - South Pointe's pressure primarily came from the outside defensively.

The Keep Pounding Classic held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte this past Friday Night was an incredible display of high school football! Four championship-level teams played two great games, showing why the Carolinas are a recruiting hotbed. The Hough Huskies defeated the South Pointe Stallions out of Rock Hill, South Carolina, 14-10 in comeback fashion. There are a number of places where you can see a detailed recap of the game; however, we're going to name 15 players in total who played well at this great event that had nearly 13,000 people in attendance overall.